O-H-I-O spells HOME.

So its been a while since I've updated everyone on my life. Blogging is pretty much an all day activity for me (kind of like laundry ;) So I sometimes put it off until i am desperately trying to procrastinate school work. Like now for instance... :)

In my last entry I mentioned that I was on my way home to Ohio. I hadn't been there to visit my family in over a year and a half so a trip was LONG overdue. I was there for 18 days. 18 GLORIOUS days. I hadn't realized how much I missed it until I was there. Everything was SO green and the lightning/thunder storms were AMAZING! But overall spending time with my family was my favorite.

This could seriously be the longest post i have ever written because there is so much to talk about, so I will try to condense it as much as possible...

WHILE I WAS IN OHIO:

-I helped my twin sister renovate her home. We painted, put together book shelves and toy shelves and my personal favorite DECORATED!!!

- I was lucky enough to go to my younger (no longer "little") brother's Eagle Court of Honor. So proud of that boy.

Proud Big Sister!!! Also...this boy hardly ever shows his "true" emotions...so this picture is kind of a big deal! :) Love you Ryan!

-Finally made it up to Cedar Point thanks to Bill. He is a friend from Utah that moved to Michigan for medical school. We each met at Cedar Pointe and..ya know...just had a grand old time. Bill was the perfect roller coaster buddy because he  made waiting in the super long lines bearable. :) We tried to go on as many rides before our drives home. We made sure those rides were the most INTENSE rides in the park. SO FUN!

-Went to a water park with family. My favorite part was racing down the slides with my sister, mom, Aunt Jennifer, and my cousin Arielle. Yay for Being an adult. NO LINES during adult swim!

- Went to the Drive-In with my younger siblings and Robbie. Stayed for both Guardians of the Galaxy and How to Train your Dragon 2. Ate lots of candy and only had our car run out of battery twice. TWICE! So embarrassing.haha The first time a random stranger (who had tattoos, piercings and smoking a cigarette.) stopped and helped us jump our car.Sometimes I'm surprised at how helpful others are. I normally would never have asked this guy for help (because of how he looked). Well that just proved me wrong and now I've learned my lesson. You never know who God will send to answer your prayers.
After feeling pretty good about ourselves we started watching the second movie only having the battery die half way through the movie. My mom (who is NOT a night person) came to rescue us at 2 a.m. If anyone knows my mom she doesn't like to be woken up, but she came to the rescue with a cheery attitude and helped us get home. Love you mom. You're the best!

-I went to Waynesville for the first time with Katrina, Samantha, Elizabeth and Miranda. Such an adorable little town. We walked through the shops, bought beautiful fabric, looked at antiques, ate delicious pizza and bought yummy cupcakes from a cute little bakery.

- Had a girls night with Katrina, Arielle, Liz, Samantha, and Mary. Love those girls to death. So glad we are all family!!! I love that we didn't need to do anything fancy...just paint nails,talk and talk and talk, and eat Arielles delicious chocolate chip cookies.

- The biggest highlight for me was going through the Columbus temple for the first time with my family. My Parents, Katrina and Casey, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and Grandparents were able to be there and that meant so much to me. I couldn't imagine it any other way!!! And my grandparents were generous to pay for the entire family to go to any restaurant I picked for lunch afterward (Olive Garden of course). I love my family!!!!

My family that came to the temple with me. :)

-Speaking of family, I made my immediate family take a family picture right after church so I could hang an updated picture in my room. Pretty attractive family huh? ;)

Outside our church building...Usually there are trees EVERYWHERE but our church building is surrounded by farms.

-My days in Ohio were filled with yummy food,swimming with the fam, visiting "The Greene", walks with my mom, taking fun pictures of my niece and nephew, and lots of ice cream was consumed. I wouldn't have had it any other way.

 Did you know IKEA gave free breakfast before 10:00 a.m.???

 My younger siblings and neice and nephew. They are pretty cool...

 Visiting my Great-Grandma Alberta at the Nursing home

 Love that scrunched nose!

The bottom picture is BY FAR my favorite of these two cuties. Gracies face! haha

SINCE I'VE BEEN BACK IN UTAH:

I went wedding dress shopping with Sarah!!!! She bought a dress that I can only describe as "so her". And then she and I went through the Salt Lake City Temple. It was my first time doing a live session and I loved it! Plus sarah told me about some pretty cool things in the temple. It was like going through with a tour guide. Love it! and love her!

Since then I've been back to the Salt Lake temple with my friend Krizia. When she and I go there, there is always a guy from scotland and it makes me so happy to hear his accent! :)

So Liz and I had planned on going on a road trip for Labor Day weekend but due to or busy schedules we never actually got around to actually "planning" the road trip...so I went to Logan for the weekend instead. I don't know about Liz but I had a GREAT time. I don't remember everything we did but I DO remember going to Zeke and Paige's reception, making delicious baked goods, watching multiple movies that I had never seen before and going on a night walk. On Labor Day, we went to Bear Lake with Devin and Riley. Those boys are so fun!!! We went and got shakes at Labeau's and then headed over to the Lake. We all got relatively sunburnt (Except for liz who uses SPF 50 sunscreen) :)

The next weekend I went back to Logan to go through them temple with Julie for the first time. I got to see "the old movie". It was cool being there. I'm so grateful she invited me. On my way down to Logan, I rode with Wendi. That was fun. I had certainly missed that girl. Luckily we've seen each other a bit more since then.

I've also had a few visitors here in salt lake. Maria came to visit me TWICE! I love seeing her. And i love when my friends visit me.

My little sister Samantha also came to visit and she stayed with me for a few days. I LOVED having her here.

 SATURDAY: Almost got into Comicon but the tickets sold out a few minutes before we got there. That didnt keep us from walking around and looking at all the people in costume. We then went and watched a movie at the cheap theatre and then went to Zupa's for dinner. I converted samantha to the Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup...so yum!

 Samantha wore my shirt. Because she wants to be like me or something... ;)

SUNDAY: Went to Music and the Spoken word at the Tabernacle for the First Time

We had church at the Conference Center because there was a regional HYSA Stake Conference.

 MONDAY: Hiked Ensign Peak and went shopping for most ALL of samantha's things for her apartment.

TUESDAY: Baptisms for family and walked around temple square

Drove to provo to visit with Mary and Colton. Had a delicious dinner and played the game "awkward family photos". This is our "awkward family" photo....

WEDNESDAY: Chillaxed in the morning. Dropped samantha off at the institute on campus while I was at class. She met up with a friend of hers from her "mini mission". Then after class we went to Cafe Rio for dinner and then  I dropped samantha off at temple square so she could visit with another friend who is going to school at BYU. While she was on her "date" I went to my stake institute class. It worked out perfectly.

 THURSDAY: I picked up the rental car at 6 a.m. and then Samantha and I drove to Rexburg. When we got there, we checked her in, unloaded her bags on her bed , put away her groceries and then went to lunch at Wingers. (It was Sammie's first time at wingers) After lunch, we went back to her apartment to unpack her bags and decorate her apartment. We ran to the store a couple of times and went on campus to get her student ID and buy her books. At 6-ish, we went to Maria's apartment for dinner and then the three of us went to the Rexburg Temple. I ended up leaving Rexburg later then I planned and got back to Salt Lake a little late, but I still consider that day to be "perfect". I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to help Samantha get ready for her first time at college. And I just love Rexburg. So many happy memories there.

This week:

So I have been in school for almost a month now and this week has been pretty intense with having 4 clients this semester.

On Monday, I raced home from class to meet with Wendi. She and I drove up to Silver Lake with some girls from my ward for our Stake FHE. We "hiked" around Silver Lake. It was more of a nature walk which honestly I like better. I love stopping to look at beautiful trees, plants, and watching the water on the lake. It was so peaceful there.

Wendi and I both wore BRIGHT colored shirts.We matched. Sort of....

 On tuesday I was feeling overwhelmed and wasn't sure how I was going to handle the rest of the week. I said a prayer for comfort and a minute later (seriously 1 minute) Morgan called me and asked me if I wanted to go on a drive through the canyon to look at all the Fall leaves. That is exactly what I needed and I am so grateful that the Lord knew that. He is aware of me and my needs and it's just proof to me that he loves me.

 Fall is my favorite!

Also...I like water. A lot.

I'm not gonna lie, one of my favorite parts about living in Utah are these mountains. Sometimes they are just breathtakingly beautiful.

I'm grateful for the beauty around me and the tender mercies that I receive each day. It helps make these crazy days bearable. And I have plenty of "crazy days" ahead of me.

Summer in Salt Lake (part 2)

The weekend of the 4^th of July I went down to Tremonton to visit  my best friend Maria. Maria's family was having a "service" family reunion so I got to meet a lot of her extended family. It was nice catching up with her. That night I stayed the night at my friend Kim’s house in Providence. I got to sleep in a queen size bed (such a luxury! ;) The next day  (July 4th) I went shooting with a group of friends from Logan. I’m not the best shot  (especially since this was the 4^th time in my entire life that I had been shooting) but we all had fun J My friend Mike has this gun that is SO tiny. It is a little bit bigger than the palm of my hand. I was so worried it was going to slide right out of my hand when I pulled the trigger. Haha

After we expressed our independence in the best way possible, I went back to Maria’s grandparents home to spend some more time with her. I ended up helping the family clean out the grandparents enormous garage. My favorite part was carrying her grandfathers (pre-made) casket to the shed. True friends carry caskets together ;) I wish I had gotten a picture. It was so funny. I was laughing the entire time.

Later that night my friend Liz and I went to dinner at Olive Garden (SO American of us. haha) and then walked across the street to watch the fireworks at Sugarhouse Park. We were a bit further away from the fireworks then we thought we would be but we still enjoyed ourselves. After the fireworks, we walked back to our car  and witnessed an “almost” fight between two cars. The men were shouting and the women were all up in each others faces. Fighting in the olive garden parking lot….Classy. What is it about gatherings that bring out the worst in people?

Waiting for fireworks at Sugarhouse Park :)

The next day, Liz and I went to the Draper Temple. I hadn't been to that temple since my friend Stephanie got married there 4 years ago. (I was a bridesmaid). It really is a gorgeous temple!

The following weekend I drove to rexburg to celebrate Maria's Birthday and Mine and Katrina's Birthday. My car broke down on the way which was kind of intense. But Carson (and Katrina) came to my rescue so everything was okay. Also, Maria brought me ice cream (peanut butter and chocolate...she knows me well) to help console me after a trying day. 

The next day, Katrina drove me to Pocatello to pick up my car and then I went out to lunch with Maria and few other girls for Maria's Birthday. My old roommate Elise was there too and I just loved seeing her again.

Me, Elise, and Maria. Love these Ladies!

The next day, I babysat for Katrina and Casey while they went on a triple date to float the river. Little did Katrina know, I was also throwing her a surprise birthday party. I had bought all sorts of decorations and spent hours making cupcakes and treats for everyone. (Thank goodness for naptime or I wouldn't have gotten nearly as much done :) ) Katrina had thrown me a surprise birthday party three years ago on our 21st birthday and I had wanted to return the favor. I figured this would be the best time because she is surrounded by friends and she would be leaving Rexburg soon.
LOTS of Katrina's friends came and we all waited for Katrina and Casey to get home. I was nervous when Katrina texted me telling me that they had made plans to get ice cream after and were going to be late. Everyone was already at her house waiting. The living room was literally packed with people. Luckily Casey "felt bad for me" and told her that they should probably leave instead of getting ice cream. Sneaky Casey. Katrina's face was priceless. She was so surprised. The party was a success. And everyone liked my cupcakes :) That party TOTALLY made the weekend. I spent the rest of the weekend helping Katrina pack and had a teary goodbye when I left to return to Salt Lake. I realized this would be the last time I would visit her family in rexburg.

I was so busy trying to make the party go smooth...I forgot to get pictures. So I stole these from Katrina's Blog :) 

A couple days later (July 16th) was my birthday. The day started out like usual, I went to school, dealt with car troubles, etc. But around lunch time, my other best friend Sarah picked me up and we went to lunch and then to Leatherby's for dessert. It was so great to spend time with her and talk about her wedding plans. Plus she is pretty much an angel. She is always there to help when I need her.
That night, a group of people from my ward had made plans to go see a movie at the Imax theatre downtown. The movie was about Jerusalem (perfect huh? ;) and of course I LOVED it! It made me want to visit so bad! It's too bad there is so much going on there right now. I'm praying that my Berk family is doing well and that they are safe.
 After the movie, we went to get ice cream at Iceberg (a place that gives RIDICULOUS amounts of ice cream). I mean... I love ice cream! and I can eat a lot of it...but I couldn't even eat HALF of the "mini size". Crazy! A few boys were nice enough to buy my ice cream for me and then the entire group circled me and sang happy birthday. Kind of embarrassing but something I wont forget. :) I love my ward.

After ice cream, a few of us went to the pool at my complex and played night games at the pool. So fun.

That weekend, I went to Bear Lake with my old ward from Providence. I was hesitant at first because my car had been having problems but I'm so glad I went. I got to see Julies new house AND I had blast at Bear Lake. I got to go to Bloomington Lake which was my favorite part the previous year.I swam across the lake a played in the snow. It was kind of bizarre being in a swimsuit while making snowballs. haha
 I also got to go to Minnetonka caves this year. I missed out last year because I had to work so I was super excited. I was nervous that they weren't going to let me go in the caves because I'm from Ohio and apparently caves in Ohio have a fungus that infects bats... But they let me in and it was pretty cool! Wendi joined us for the last part of the trip and then she and I drove back to Logan together. I had been having "Wendi withdrawals" since she moved to Logan for the summer so it was nice to spend time with her.

Outside the Cave.

The next week I had a big final in my Motor Speech Disorders class so I had considered skipping FHE to study. But I decided to go anyway (partly because of guilt and partly because I had never been to a Bee's game before). I am so glad I went. We got into the Bee's game free, got a free hot dog, and enjoyed the Baseball game. I ran into my mentor Camille Smith. She and I talked for a while and she listened as I vented about not having a medical externship. She eased my worries with her smiles and past experiences. Then the next day she sent me a message. She had talked with her Medical Externship Supervisor at LDS Hospital (where I wanted to go) and she told me that they were still doing interviews. I emailed the supervisor and set up an interview right away. Thank goodness for Camille!

Later that week, after finals, a group from my ward went to dinner at THE PIE for a farewell party for Bill.( He was moving to Michigan to go to Med School) It was fun spending time with people and made me feel more included. Also, I got to try my new favorite pizza.Buffalo Chicken Ranch. YUM!
I also made a new friend in the ward named Ashley. She and I often go to the pool at the same time and we have a lot in common. She also painted my nails with shellac (over a week ago) and they still look great!

Bill's farewell party at "The Pie".

On thursday it was Pioneer Day. Pioneer Day is a BIG DEAL in utah. It's a state holiday so a lot of people have work and school off. I went to the pioneer day parade in downtown SLC with Katherine. There were some really creative floats. I loved that many of them were about family history! My favorite part by far was seeing the prophet Thomas S. Monson. My heart started beating fast and Im sure I looked silly smiling so big and waving like a crazy person. I know that he really is a prophet and that he leads the saints in these latter days. He recieves direct revelation for us from Heavenly Father and he loves us. And because of that, I love him! :)

Later that night, a group from my ward was throwing a Pioneer day party/BBQ. There was lots of yummy food and great conversation. A few guys bought a ton (seriously like hundreds of dollars worth) of fireworks and we let them off. (because that's legal here in utah) It was kinda scary being so close to the fireworks. I was worried the ash was going to get in my eyes. But I have to say the fireworks were BEAUTIFUL! I have never been so close to such BIG fireworks in my life. Nothing says "I love America" like fireworks! :)

On friday, my friend Liz came to SLC and she and I went to watch "The Adams Family Musical". Liz's sister was an extra in the play. The play was quirky and  pretty much everything I had expected from the title. haha. We had fun. After the play, Liz spent the night at my house. We made popcorn, watched a chick flick and basically had a girls night. The next morning I made a full breakfast (because I had an excuse to) and the Liz and I went shopping for my clothes for the temple. We also went to a couple other stores along the way while we tried to find the closest distribution center. We went out for lunch and then liz had to go back to logan. It was so nice to visit with her. Its my favorite when my friends come to visit me :)

A few hours later, Morgan and Nick texted me inviting me to go to a TRAIN concert. For Free!!! Of course I said yes. The concert was held downtown and there were hundreds of people there. Train is really good in concert. They sound exactly like they do on the radio. I love outdoor concerts. I don't feel as claustrophobic because I'm outside. After the concert we went back to Nicks new place and talked...for hours! It was fun.

This past week was my last week of the summer semester. I had to finish up all the paperwork for my clients and meet with my supervisors. It feels SO good to be done and have a few weeks break. I have officially completed/survived my first year of Grad School. I am now a "second year" student. :)
On wednesday I had my interview with LDS hospital (Intermountain Voice and Swallowing Clinic). I REALLY hope I get the externship, but if I don't I guess it just wasn't meant to be. Still....Fingers Crossed. :)


So yeah...that pretty much wraps up my summer in Utah. I'm headed to Ohio today (currently sitting in the Denver airport). I feel blessed that I get to spend the rest of my summer at home with my family. I think Ohio is just what I need to recharge and prepare for Fall Semester because let me tell you...I received my schedule and it's gonna be CRAZY! But I can do crazy....I've been doing it for a year now. :)

Summer in Salt Lake (Part 1)

Well finals for spring semester came and went. Seriously SUCH a relief. Spring was a difficult semester for me. Lots of late nights, revisions-revisions-revisions, and yes...tears were shed. But I did it! and I learned a lot in the process :)

To celebrate, I went to spend an ENTIRE week in Rexburg with Katrina and Casey and their beautiful angel children. I honestly can't describe Carson and Grace any other way. They are seriously the best kind of medicine for the soul! I wish I had pictures but when I go to Rexburg I tend to fall off the face of the earth when it comes to technology. I dont take pictures and I hardly EVER look at my phone...I'm too obsessed with playing with Carson and Grace. EVERY MINUTE COUNTS! ;)

 I took these pictures from Katrina's Facebook...because they are just too cute not to share! Love these angels!

When I came back to Salt Lake, my roommates and I went out to dinner and then went to watch the play "Arsenic and Old Lace" which is a play based off the classic black and white movie. :) Plays and black and white movies are my kind of thing...so I really enjoyed myself. Before the play started, we walked over to Cracker Barrel where I found Lemon drops. SCORE! So I got to enjoy the play while eating lemon-y goodness. Jealous huh? ;)

A couple of days later I started my summer semester. I'm not sure if I was traumatized during spring semester or if it was the summer weather but the first half of this semester was...bizarre. I don't even know how to explain it...my motivation was GONE! I did my assignments half heartedly and last minute...LAST MINUTE! I never do that!!!  I still seemed to be getting pretty good grades and after studying for mid terms I have somehow bounced back into being a "studious" student again.  Funny how that works!

Oh and I moved! I moved to Holladay Utah a couple weeks after summer semester started. I live in a townhome again with two other girls. I have to say, my favorite part of this new place is that there is a POOL! I don't get to use it as often as I want...it's like I'm busy or something....
But when I DO get time, I enjoy every moment! I'm confident I would TOTALLY be a water bender. And not just because my name is Kitara. :) (If you understood that somewhat nerdy reference then you and I should/already are good friends)

So it just turns out that I moved into a ward where my old friend  from BYUI (Jason McNamee) lives. He invited me to go on a hike with a couple of his friends. My first thought was "I like nature...and mountains. And i'm somewhat in shape..and I want to make new friends." So I agreed to go. Probably one of the most taxing things I have EVER done. I have never been so LITERALLY exhausted. Tiffany, Jodi, and Jason were super great. Whenever I needed to stop (which was pretty often...so embarrassing) they would say "oh I wanted to stop anyway" and smile and patiently wait for me to catch my breathe and wait to feel my legs again before starting up again. Let's just say...that experience has boosted my work outs at the gym. But seriously, the climb was so worth it. The view was GORGEOUS!!!! I mean breath taking! It was kind of a spiritual experience being so away from the world and looking down at the beauty below.

The next day, after my clinic session, I drove to Logan to start my road trip to Oregon. I had never been to Oregon before (in fact most of us hadn't been there) so our expectations were low and our "schedule" was flexible which honestly makes for the BEST kind of road trips. We all took turns driving,sleeping and DJing. Only one of us got a ticket (I wont mention names...but it wasn't me) and we only almost died on the drive back once due to sleep deprivation. Luckily my adrenaline kicked in and I was able to drive us the rest of the way safely. ;) GOOD TIMES!

Oregon could honestly have its own blog post...we saw so many beautiful sites, had so many silly adventures, and honestly me writing about it could never REALLY do it justice. I'll just sum it up...

-The first day we visited Multnomah Falls and Portland. We ate at food carts in the city and walked around the city looking at the cool architecture and "interesting" people. Due to the fact that it was a holiday weekend, we couldn't find an open campsite, but due to a series of events, we ended up staying at a hotel. Which was perfect because apparently there was an E Coli outbreak so the water wasn't supposed to be used. Our hotel gave us unlimited water bottles :) (This is something we never would have learned had we camped)

-The next day we drove back to Portland to get Doughnuts from Voodoo Doughnuts (we just HAD to. Best decision!) then we drove to the Portland Temple and then to Astoria to visit the Goonies house. We ate at local diner called Gena's and basked in the Portland Breeze. We drove along the coast and stopped at Cannon Beach (Where Goonies is also filmed and personally my favorite place we visited) Our campsite was right off the beach and we made it just in time to set up our tents and then walk along the beach during the sunset. SO ROMANTIC!!!

-The next morning, we woke up early and drove to another beach close by that was a "surfing beach". It was part of a national forest so we got to drive through the beautiful green trees and straight to the beach. The waves were bigger and we watched the surfers do what they do. We also got a bit adventurous and climbed rocks by the shore...Barefoot! (I had left my water shoes in the car)  Adventures call for a little crazy now and then. We left cannon beach to travel to Lincoln City where the boys had found us our next camp site. As we drove along the coast, we stopped at this restaurant that had AMAZING seafood. The clam chowder was seriously the best clam chowder I have ever had. Hands Down. We also stopped at a lighthouse (the ONE thing i requested we do while on our trip). We got there 1 minute before the LAST tour. I was SO SO excited. It was such a cute lighthouse...the smallest lighthouse on the Oregon Coast.
When we got to Lincoln City we soon realized that it was a lot smaller than we expected. We drove around a while looking for a restaurant because we were all starving. We ended up eating at a Tavern because that was pretty much our only option. We must have seemed pretty weird ordering water and sodas with our meals. Haha

The next day was our long journey home. We stopped at 3 different beaches on our way (because we just couldn't say goodbye). We also stopped for lunch in Tillamook. We went through the little tour and tried all the different kinds of cheeses and of COURSE I HAD to get ice cream. :)

Okay so that is a VERY watered down summary of our trip. So many adventures. So many memories. I just love road trips!

By now you are all probably pretty tired of reading this blog...I dont blame you...I'm kind of tired of writing it...but I have more to write. So....

A couple weeks after I came back to Salt Lake, Morgan Krizia and I decided to hike Ensign Peak. A MUCH easier hike than Mt. Olympus and it only took us 20 minutes to climb it, look around and hike back down. Afterwards we went out to breakfast at Millcreek Cafe. I forgot how much fun it is to go out for breakfast.

Later that week, I went to Logan to go to Jessica Kleven's Wedding Reception. I loved her decorations (books on the table with glitter mason jars full of babies breath). I also enjoyed staying the night at both Liz and Julie's homes. My friends in Logan are TOO kind.  I'm really lucky to know them :)

I also went back to Rexburg to visit Katrina's family and my bestie Maria. She and I went to I-Cover (where I decidedly felt "old"). We also got to meet up with our old roommate Elise. I loved our little reunion. I couldn't help but laugh when Elise said "I feel like the sons of Mosiah" haha. Oh those girls. I love them so.

In other news..my other best friend Sarah is ENGAGED!!! So exciting! I'm so happy for her and I'm even happier that I got to see her the day after. We went for a walk and I got to see the ring and hear all about the proposal story. So SO happy for that girl.

This past saturday, Morgan and I went to the Farmers Market in Pioneer Bark (the homeless people park) in Salt Lake City. I always find things like this fun because 1. Its interesting what people make and sell in their free time 2. Free samples 3. Great food and 4. It's Free Fun!
Morgan and I bought Strawberry Lemonades at this Lemonade booth that made the Lemonade fresh before your eyes. So yummy!

Later that night, we met up with our friend Nick and had a last minute adventure. We drove to Bountiful to go to FIIZ ( a drink shop) where you can buy all sorts of mixed soda drinks. We were all pretty energized and acted a little crazy. Our dance parties in the car were pretty much the best! :)

Hmmm....what else...OH! I have a new calling as a ward missionary. Ive never been a missionary before so I am learning so much and I love having the opportunity to share my testimony so often. I get to actually participate in giving the Lessons and go door to door visiting members in our ward. It's a really neat experience. I really love how efficient my new ward is. I have only been in the ward for a month but everyone is SO friendly and you can tell that they are really watching out for one another. For example the Elders Quorum Presidency took the time to visit EVERY person who hadn't been home taught that month because they didn't want anyone to be left behind. That's some serious dedication and let's just say I'm impressed.

So yeah...as you can see, Life is good. It's still pretty busy but Ive found time to squeeze in some fun now and again. Ive had a few challenges and trials here and there, but nothing that a little prayer and faith can't work out. :) I can't complain.

Conference. Conference. Conference.

I went to my first all-day conference a couple weeks ago. I felt so professional sitting there with all the other speech-language pathologists. The conference was focused on learning about Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS). I used to nanny for a little boy that had CAS so I was pretty excited to learn more about it.

My conference certificate :)

Later that day, I made a last minute decision and drove up to Logan with Wendi. I'm so glad I did! That night wendi had a group over to her house to play Just Dance (so fun!) and then we met up with friends from my old ward at the Sports Academy in Logan. I wasn't exactly dressed for swimming, or sports, but it was fun to see old friends and eat pizza. Then at midnight, a group of us went to The Fun Park to play laser tag in the entire building (Thanks to Julie). It was fun running around the skating rink, through the arcade games, and crawling through the children play tunnels. Its a lot harder to climb in those things as an adult. haha

The next morning, I went with Julie to clean the church building in providence. That was one of my first callings in the ward when I first moved to providence and so it was somewhat nostalgic...is that weird? Maybe it is. Oh well. It was kind of cool because the bishopric showed up and put me in charge...even though I'm not in the ward anymore. It made me feel like I had never left.
Unfortunately, I still had a lot of homework that I had to do over the weekend so I went back to Julies to try to get everything done. For lunch, Mike, Jessica Smith, Julie and I went out to eat at Herm's Inn (This cute little place on the way to First Dam). I had always heard good things about the food and I was excited to try it... I wasn't disappointed. Biscuits and Gravy...Yum.

Herm's Inn...where you drink out of jars. :)

 

That night Julie and I went with a group of girls to the Women's Broadcast at the Conference Center (yes I did drive all the way back to salt lake to watch the conference). Basically, the conference was amazing...I cried. Afterwards we all went to Cracker Barrel for dinner. Well Julie and I were actually fasting, so we played checkers while everyone else ate. I have to say that was the MOST intense game of checkers I have ever played in my life. I was SO close. Next time Julie. Next time.

At the Women's Conference

On sunday, I went to church, saw my friends, ate delicious food at break-the-fast (no seriously, everything was SO yummy...not just because I was fasting) and then I went to my friend Liz and Sydney's home and watched Austenland and talked until Wendi came to pick me up. *sigh* Weekends in cache valley are so much fun!

Back in Salt Lake:
I had been pretty concerned about the fact that my housing contract ends in May, and I wanted to move, but I hadn't found anything yet. I was praying and fasting for some direction, and on Tuesday everything started coming together. Kelli (a girl in my program) mentioned a few people who had some openings where she lived. So that night (and the next day) I went and viewed the rooms. And I found a place! I will officially be moving in May to a townhouse in Holladay. I'm excited...and nervous...all at the same time.

On thurdsday my program had an "End of the Year Banquet" where they gave out awards and scholarships to a few lucky souls. I wasn't among them, but that's okay. I enjoyed seeing the people in my program all dressed up. They brought their significant others and children. I didn't bring anyone. Obviously.

       Kassi Me and Katherine. My Study Buddies.                       Single...

On Friday my client had cancelled her session, so Katherine and I decided to change our study group up a little but. We both took the tracks downtown (always an adventure!) and studied at the visitors center at temple square. I really enjoyed studying there! During one of our many "off track"moments, Katherine and I started talking about how I had never seen the movie "Legacy" that is shown at the visitors center. We decided to take a break from studying and asked the sister missionaries to play the movie. They set us in a room (that we had all to ourselves which was kind of nice) and we watched the movie. Pioneers and a love story...love it!

 Later that night sarah came over and we had a girls night. She came with me to get my hair cut (It was time.) and then we bought a pizza and started a Jane Austen movie. We interrupted the movie to meet up with Wendi, Amber and Jessica to get frozen yogurt. Gotta love girls night!

Saturday was general conference and my roommate Morgan had gotten tickets to the afternoon session. She invited me and Alex Johnson to join her and her coworkers.

Conference!

 

After the conference, Katherine and Kassi came over to my house to study for a few hours and then I spent the rest of the night with Krizia. We went grocery shopping (cause we were feeling pretty wild. ;) and the we watched a movie at her house (Crossroads...the one with Brittany spears in it. haha). We ended up talking for quite a while and I left pretty late at night, which is fine by me. I love talking to people.

I was lucky enough to go to General Conference on Sunday as well with some friends from Logan. We had GREAT seats. We sat on the terrace directly in the middle! Mary and Colton also had tickets for same section, so I saved them seats so we could all sit together. After conference, Mary and Colton came over for dinner. We had delicious tortollini soup, rolls, and ceasar salad. We played headbands, only this time we made up the words. Colton's were always the hardest to guess...Styrofoam? Impossible!

         I like these people...a lot.                                           Mike and I showing off our perfect view. :)

                           Yay for family. I'm so happy Mary and Colton came to visit. :)

                                                                        So blessed.

For all those who are reading this blog and have NO idea what General Conference is...and don't understand why I am so excited about it, you can learn more here...

https://www.lds.org/general-conference?lang=eng

Basically, as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Ladder Day Saints, we believe in living prophets and apostles today that receive revelation from our Heavenly Father. Members gather all around the world to listen to them speak as they share HIS message of love and guidance. Their messages are perfect and lovely.