Called To Serve

Hello everyone!

I have received my mission call to Geneva Switzerland!! But as you can see, my mission covers much more than that. I have a lot of France, all of Luxembourg, and a little bit of Belgium. I am so ecstatic to preach the gospel in french! I took three years of french in high school and 2 more years in college.

I will report to the MTC in Provo on October 20th of this year.

I really couldn't be more excited about it.

When my call arrived, I had been waiting in my living room, and a couple minutes after 10:00 am, I went outside to look and see if the mail man was here or coming. My mom laughed at me, and then she told me that she had put some mail in the box that morning, so the flag should be up. I looked at the mailbox- the flag was not up- I turned to my mom and said, "Really?" I charged down the street as she nodded. My mom told me later that I'd never moved so fast.
I opened our box, and the only thing that registered in my mind was the red post stamp in the corner of a big white envelope that I recognized immediately. It was here.
I ran back to my mom screaming with joy. She asked me for the other mail and I held it out to her but she snatched my call away from me. We had a little mail face off before making a hostage exchange.
I held it to my chest for a good five minutes while my heart rate increased 5x and I stopped breathing. I called my dad, and a bunch of other people to tell them the news. The whole time, my left arm and leg were shaking. I'm sure I left a lot of really funny messages yesterday, because I could hardly breathe, and words just could not come out right.
But I told everyone to be at my house at 4:30 so I could open it.
Now I had to wait 6 hours until then.
Mom distracted me by taking me to lunch and Costco, but first I had to shower. My nerves were completely whacked- a hot shower does amazing things to calm you down.
When we got back from Costco, Kristine and Billy came over to take over the job of distracting me- which they did very well, except for checking the time every hour and commenting on the time. My mom, at one point, asked if I realized I had an hour left. Of course, I was aware. It was the longest hour of my life. We played ping pong for a long while, and we started playing Grum before my friend Jared came over after work.
Then we made a Rosaritos run for nacho supremes.
Soon, my cousins arrived, Paul, David, Madeleine, Josh, and Ben. Grandma and Lora came as well, and my friend Bonnie. Caitlin and Lindsey Hendrickson were able to come as well. And of course, Mom, Dad, Carl, and Kristen were all home.
So we gathered in the living room while we worked out who would call whom with speaker phones.
When everyone that needed to be on speakerphone were all set up, I was ready to open it. Cameras rolling, and letter opener in hand- the moment was so surreal to me. I could hardly keep composure.
I read my mission call and everyone cheered when they heard Switzerland, Geneva and gasped and 'wowed' when they heard October 2oth (a long wait) and as my voice went up 5 notches as I read that I would be learning the French language, the excitement (mostly mine) exploded.

I could barely speak- I laugh now at the video- because I was so not capable of thinking.

Hugs all around and Kristine yelling, "I knew it!!!" Bree and Kira Middleton arrived- so I got to tell them.
I had a lot of people to call and tell the news. If they didn't answer, I told them to call me back, because I wanted to tell them in person.
Some people hung around longer, but some people had to be off to their duties. And I made a bunch of calls. My mom liked to hear me make each one. She said that every time I told them Switzerland my voice got a little choked up with excitement.
One call made me cry, and my friends thought that it was a success. I got to talk to my Grandma Ginny, and she told me she knew my Grandfather, and Grandmother, of course, were proud of me. My eyes are starting to water, even now. I miss them so much. I wish they could have been here now, but I know that they are proud of me. I know they love me. I am so grateful for the missionaries that taught my Grandmother while my Grandfather was at sea, reading the Book of Mormon. I would not be here if they hadn't both decided to join the church. I'm so grateful for my Grandma Ginny; she is so wonderful and I love her so much. I hope that I will get a chance to visit her this summer.
I spent the rest of the day with Kristine, Billy and Bonnie. We watched Free Willy (random, and spontaneous) and I was really happy when Shannon stopped by!!! She had just come home from Riverside, and though she couldn't make it to be here when I opened it, she came by to see me anyways, and I got to tell her the awesome news.

After my friends went home, I watched Carl play Volley Pong (a game they invented) with Jack, Chase, and Simon. Jack gave me a BIG hug, and he and Chase both said how jealous they were.
Ping Pong went on until 1:30- a little later than my Dad would have liked.
After they went home, I just couldn't go to bed. I got in bed, but I was not tired- duh- I was too excited. So I went downstairs and started uploading videos and stuff. At 3 o'clock, I was finally feeling tired and went back to bed.

almost there

Hey everybody,
Pretty soon I should be getting my mission call. My papers aren't in yet- but I'm done with them. I have my interview with the bishop on Sunday, and then hopefully I'll be able to meet with the stake president really soon, and get my papers submitted.

So, keep a heads up- maybe in a few weeks, I'll have some REALLY exciting news.

Birthday Celebrations!

I started this blog a long time ago and forgot to finish it. But here it finally is!


I'm 21!!!!
I had a really awesome birthday with some of my favorite people, in MY happiest place on earth. No, not Disneyland. My happiest place on earth is the Ruby's on the Pier in Oceanside.
I went with my friends Kristine, Tim, Brittany & her friend Jen (someone I didn't remember from elementary school, to my embarrassment), my new friend Brianna, my cousin David.
Ruby's is my favorite restaurant - they have the best fries (CAJUN!) and I love their Aloha Burgers! If you've never been, call me! and I'll take you there. It is a special treat for me to go to the one in Oceanside, because that is where my family first discovered Ruby's, and it is the coolest place to enjoy a sunset!


to see more pictures from our fun adventure, see my facebook page!

Mudcaves!

Over the week end, to continue celebrating in the best way possible: dirty new Adventure!, we went to the mudcaves. I had been to the mudcaves a couple of times, and I always loved them, but my friends had never been, and I'd been wanting to take them.
So I got my peeps together; we met at my house, well some of us did: Kristine, Billy, Brianna, and James. Brittany and Matt drove up later that night.
Armed with my Dad's totally awesome touch-screen Garmen GPS, and a suburban full of gear, we hit the road.
It was my first driving experience of this sort without my parents. It was thrilling and nervous-making at the same time. Everything went just fine (phew!) and we had fun, too! I've always been a big fan of road trips, but boy am I a fan of road trips with friends.
After a couple hours on the road with some great tunes (DJ-Kristine), wacky singing (I think we went from RENT to ACDC at one point) and fun conversation, we found our campground at Agua Caliente Springs.
Finding our campsite was not so easy. Our papers said #8, and the map showed it, but I swear to the 'man in the sky' it went from 7 to 9. I made them get out and find it, which we did- it was right behind us. Then we unloaded our tents and our kitchen stuff and got to work. The tents were huge, but we fit them in the site. Brianna and James got started on the fire while Kristine, Billy and I tackled dinner. Since I've never operated a gas camping stove before, dad gave me a simple one, and we planned on hamburgers and hot dogs. It all went really well- and it was all exciting for me because I'd never been running the show before! and it was fun! The burgers and dogs were great, but we had to throw out some buns that were moldy (we got them out of my garage).
It was just getting dark when we decided to go for a dip in the Hot Springs. It was in doors, which is weird to me, but it was still a HOT spring. It felt so nice!

Kristine (I think it was her) had a funny blond moment
when she saw the contraption for getting handicapped people into the water and shouted "whoa! you can dunk people, too!"
We all laughed and told her that's not what it was for.
I'm sure she was disappointed.

When we were done, we went back to camp to get dressed and ready to make Woof 'ems once my parents arrived. Luckily we didn't have to wait long. Brittany and Matt soon arrived. And Mom and Dad, and Ken and Alison arrived together shortly after. They set up their tents, and we broke out the desert!
The Woof 'ems were SO delicious. The best I'd had in a long time. I attribute it to the patience and use of the new stick holders, and of course, the nutella. Dad, however, had some major issues. His kept falling off, or getting large holes. James made some of the biggest, using a whole biscuit instead of a half- but there was more than enough to go around.
We went to bed, but of course, for us girls in a tent together, that doesn't mean anything. We had to go crazy and giggle for an hour at least.
Next thing I hear is my dad telling us to wake up!
We brought stuff for a really simple, fast breakfast so that we could get to the caves early. We had yummy muffins, pastries and fruit. My mom stuck a candle in a muffin and they sang Happy Birthday to me.
I was anxious for the day's adventure: the Mudcaves!!!

We grabbed our flashlights- checked our batteries, and split into two cars (all us crazy young adults in the Suburban, and the adults in the little rental).
We followed my dad out to the caves (because I don't know the way).
We had wAy ToO much fun in the suburban bouncing all over the place as we were 'off-road'n' through the desert canyon. We couldn't go really crazy cuz my parents were right in front of us ;) But you don't even have to go crazy to get some really good bounces.
We parked in the canyon by the entrance to the 'starter' cave. Its really short, but it gives you the feel for what you'll be doing all day. We went inside and got a group picture because its one of the only ones where you can fit that many people easily in one room. All the other caves are much tighter.
We then did a much more open cave- much of it is open to the sky (so it's not really a cave but it is still a fun hike. Lots of our great pictures came from that little excursion.
But the fun started when we went in the real cave. I don't remember what it is named, but it is not "E-ticket." This cave went very deep, with some very small parts in the 'trail.' Lots of hand-and-knees moments, and even a couple stomach crawling spots. The 'end' (I quote it because its not really the end- it keeps going- but not everyone does) of the cave has a rope to climb up a wall. Lots of us climbed the rope, but just for fun- we went up and then back down. Man, climbing a rope hurts your fingers a lot! Alison wanted to see what the trail was like at the top- she loves spelunking and exploring- so she and some others went a little ways ahead while other people took turns on the rope. We thought it was funny when Kristine stuck her Mag Light in the back of her pants to climb up- good thing we got pictures of it. I should build more upper body strength so I can be pro at climbing ropes!
As we were heading back out, we ran in to a troop of Boy Scouts heading in. I was in a very tight spot when they passed me, and I ended up on the floor under a ledge as they climbed over it/me.
We also found a tiny little tunnel on the way out that the trail goes over- but Alison wanted to go through it. So she did. And then so did Ken. And Kristine. Then James, Matt, and Billy, and Brianna. Even I was able to get through with my wide hips (after I took pictures of everyone else, of course). It was a fun little worm hole. We had to get our body straight down (feet in the air) and then pull ourselves through. It made for some great pictures, don't you think?

After we climbed and wiggled and crawled our way out of the cave, we took some group pictures to show off our VERY dirty clothes. Brianna and I had fun smacking our shirts and watching the dust billow out all around us. Then there was also the fun of making dirt hand prints.

We went back to camp for our dip in the hot springs. We changed, rinsed all the dirt out of our hair and jumped in the warm water. It would have been nicer if it was cold water, but it felt good anyways.
We ate lunch on the patio after we packed up camp. Done eating, we drove down to the store by the entrance to the campground to find a Geo-cache (something my dad is obsessed with, and my friends are still just discovering).
Still not worn out from all the fun and adventure, we drove into Julian and walked around for a short while, and bought some goodies before we headed home.
The ride home was much calmer. I think Brianna, James and Kristine were all asleep at one point. Billy and I talked and listened to music most of the time.
When we got home we unloaded the car and washed it together- made it all nice and shiny- you would have never known where it had just been. My clothes, however were a different story. They were COVERED in dirt, and my shirt even got ripped in one of the caves.

Over all- it was one of the BEST weekends I've had in a LONG time. And I thank everyone who made it so special by coming. It was perfect. I love you all!

Here are more pictures:

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