calculated confessions

So many things, so little time!!

2011-12-17T17:44:00.000-08:00

Well, I got a new car! That is probably the most exciting thing that has happened. This post will just a be a quick update of what I have been up to!

Ok! To start off, at the beginning of November I set my Friend, Megan, up on a date with Chase's roommate. We made home-made pizza and went bowling. It was a super fun date and we got some pretty sweet pictures!

I then spent Thanksgiving in Utah with my mother! It was a really good break and it was much needed. I dont have any pictures, but you should just trust me! My mother and I decorated the house for Christmas in two days and it was actually fun! We also celebrated my birthday that weekend. I also got my new CAR that weekend too!! Isn't she so cute?!?

So I am really into making crafts for some reason. This is the Christmas wreath I made with one of my mother's old (like 15 years old) garlands that I wrapped around a wreath frame. I then stuck some decorations in it, and here you have it!

Chase and I went to Utah to get my old car, so that I can sell it (which I did!!). This is a picture of us at Gardner's Village in Utah. It was a fun weekend!!

My friend Bobbi also just left on a mission for Chicago. She is so much fun and I thought I would make these cupcakes for her! I got the idea off pinterest, the link is below the pictures for the girls blog that created them. Chase and I had a ton of fun decorating them. We also got to drive to Jackson area for her farewell. I am sure going to miss her!

Dispicable Me cupcakes!

Bobbi is the one in the red sweater!

One of my co-workers decided to buy me a sugar cookie mix for my birthday. I have been wanting to decorate sugar cookies and now we could! So these are some of our creations! The good, the bad and the ugly!

James Bond and his girlfriend

This is Chase with his star wearing his party pants!

This is me with my morbid cookie. This head had a little something wrong with it, so I just went with it and put all the little details of his accident!

That about sums up what has been going on with me! Chase left this morning for his Christmas break with his family, this is probably why I am finding the time to blog! I was also able to get all of my Christmas shopping done. I will be going down to Utah on wednesday for my Christmas break. My mother has organized an amazing week for us and I am so excited to see most of my family again! I have been very lucky to see my family within the past few months. Hopefully, I will find some time sooner rather than later to blog again. See you all soon!

Nauvoo Trip

2011-10-25T18:50:00.001-07:00

I had the opportunity to take a week off work and head over to Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana to see my sister and her family, Nauvoo, and my brother and his family! I had a blast and here are a few pictures that I love! Hope you enjoy!

the weather there was amazing and so were the fall colors

mom, bridget, and finley with the Nauvoo temple in the background

finley with the flowers on the temple grounds

carthage jail

me with the robert wadlow statue...this guy was really this tall!! tallest man in history i think

finley in her awesome get-up at the wadlow statue

ryan and iain giving grandma her birthday cards

ryan and finley

finley and I

Sorry for all the finley pictures. I was with her the whole trip and she is pretty dang cute!

Look! Im awesome!!

2011-10-19T20:40:00.000-07:00

Can you believe I made this...

and this...!?!?!

I think this makes me much cooler than I was before :)

Currently Listening too...

2011-10-06T15:03:00.001-07:00

Lemonade by Chris Rice

Listen and fall in love :) Enjoy!

"We cannot serve God and mammon (the world)...which side are we on?"

2011-10-05T12:50:00.000-07:00

Chase and I in front of the Salt Lake City Temple right after conference!

I had the opportunity to go to General Conference this past weekend and it was AMAZING!! Chase ended up getting tickets from his cousin, Tanner. We were able to sit pretty close and we went to the Sunday afternoon session. Anyways, this post was not supposed to be an opportunity for me to brag about an awesome weekend (and it was). The purpose of this post is to discuss some things I learned during Conference. President Monson seemed to focus on the ever increasing gap that exists between the followers of Christ and those individuals of the world. I was a little hesitant about writing this blog because things that I feel passionate about are hard for me to talk about. I fear being rejected because of my views, especially when it is something I truly believe in. I was pinning (on pinterest...very addicting!) and I found a pin that connected me to another blog, The Redheaded Hostess. I was reading her blog and she featured Alex Boye (he sings in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and was in a boy band in Europe before he joined the church) in one of her entries. I am going to quote him because I feel like he gets the point across much better then I ever could.

Good Music in the Home and The Proclamation in our Hearts

By Alex Boye

So I tried this experiment recently and it freaked me out a little, ok alot. I want you to try it and see if you get the same results.

I listened to top 40 mainstream radio for 1 hour, switching stations every 2-3 minutes. I had a notebook with me and wrote down a list of all the subjects I picked up on. Are you ready for this?

COUNTERFEIT LOVE, FLIRTY GIRLS, ANGRY BOYS, DRUGS, SEX WITH NO CONSEQUENCES, BINGE DRINKING, SLEEPING WITH MULTIPLE PARTNERS, SEX BEFORE MARRIAGE, ROCKS, DIAMONDS, BACKBITING, ICE, BLING-BLING, IMMODEST CLOTHING, WAR, HATE, 30 INCH RIMS, ASSULT, RAPE, DEATH, VANITY, PRIDE, JEALOUSY, ENVY, CRYSTAL, CHAMPAGNE, PLATINUM RINGS, LYRICAL PORNOGRAPHY, MARIJUANA, ADULTERY, SMOKING TO LOOK COOL, DISRESPECTING WOMEN AND GIRLS, USE OF GUNS AND GANGS, PROSTITUTION, LUST, MURDER, MASTURBATION, SUICIDE, HATERS OF PEOPLE WHO DO GOOD, LOVERS OF PLEASURES, PRIDE, BLASPHEMY

(Phew, I said all that without breathing!)

Remember, this is just mainstream radio which targets children as young as 14 and that goes out to the whole world!

A popular music producer who has been saying for years that children are at risk from pop music was quoted as saying, "Welcome to the world you helped to create. You wanted a secular society without the Lord and His word. Now you've got it."

Innocent hearts are being damaged and the world is suffering as a result of all the subjects I mentioned above.

There is a scripture in Proverbs 23:7 that says "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." To me, that means we pretty much become what we think about most of the time.

A friend recently made a comment that has stuck with me. He said "In my opinion, families will never be together forever if we try to think the way that the world thinks, and try to live the way the world lives." To me, that sums up what the family proclamation represents. It is a call to the world to stand up and be counted, and for us to live closer to the laws of God than we ever have before, which will ultimately result in incredibly fulfilled lives and unparalleled joy, purpose and meaning.

N. Eldon Tanner was once quoted as saying, "We cannot serve God and mammon (The world). We will grow to love one and hate the other. Whose side are we on?"

I think more and more people in the world are coming to the realization that the world is falling, fast! I also believe that more and more people in the world are seeing the great blessings in their lives that derive from keeping Gods laws. They are going back to they're roots, back to the God who created them. I love it! It's true!

We do have a long way to go to influence the people who are responsible for shaping this world and how it is today for good. I am certainly no expert, but even I know how this can be done thanks to Gods unfailing principles of success found in scriptures and modern day prophets. One thing I do know is that adherence to the family proclamation is needed now more than ever. The last part of the proclamation says "We warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets." Well, it's happening. The world may continue to mock everything that is good, wholesome and true, but as for me and my house, we will follow the Lord.

Like my music page on Facebook http://listn.to/alexboye

"As we draw nearer to the lord, we will have "the courage to stand strong and firm in righteousness, to 'stand...in holy places, and be not moved" President Thomas S. Monson

Standing strong is going to be a challenge for me, but I am going to at least try. I know I can, I just need to do it!

PS go listen/read conference if you haven't! It was amazing! I really liked Uchtdorf's talk during the Relief Society Session!!

DI--Give stuff a second chance

2011-09-10T17:19:00.000-07:00

I have this habit of going to DI and buying things I usually dont need, but I have recently realized all the amazing items of have recieved at this beloved store! For those of you who dont know, DI is a thrift store type place. Below is a summary of my most useful and liked DI purchases! (I will leave out my book collection in sake of time)

Griddle

Price $8

Chase is a "pro" at cooking bacon :)

Cheese Grater

Price $.5

This is the kind that I grew up with and I love it!

"Perfect Pancake"

Price $2

Funny story: I bought this thinking is was for making omlets (as pictured). While we were making our "Perfect Omlets" we flipped it over to cook the other side and it has "Perfect Pancake" engraved on the bottom. Why would you want to make one pancake at a time!?!? We will now call it our "Perfect Omlet" pan. I think this is brilliant.

Spice Jars

Price $5 for 3

Totally negotiated price here. They wanted $5 for one!! Come on!! This is DI! So the guy gave us all three jars :).

Dress

Price $4

Repair price $1

I really love this dress! It is pretty old and has a few repairs on it, but it is still holding up strong!

Pea Coat

Price $4

It also came with 2 cents in the pocket :)

These are only my recent purchases...but it has been a good few weeks! Chase has found a ton of clothes at DI as well! Please share some of your DI/Thrift Store finds!

Summer!!

2011-08-22T18:44:00.000-07:00

So Chase and I have done plenty of traveling this summer. We have made it to Emmett, ID several times. We went down for the fourth of July and then we went again for his family reunion. We made it to Utah several times as well. Here is just a short re-cap of the adventures we have had so far. We just floated the river and we are going to Bear Lake this weekend. Exciting!

Fourth of July weekend a group of us went to Emmett to celebrate. On Friday we went to Christensen's pond. Chase's brother-in-law's father build this thing as his kids were growing up. It continues to grow and it is pretty awesome. They just got this awesome slide, but they also had a zipline, swing, diving board, boats, and floating docks. It was pretty dang sweet.

Here is the slide. It was as awesome as it looks :)

Here is the group on Thursday as Roan's for lunch.

Here is the group at the lake on Thursday. This weekend we just played volleyball, horseshoes, Brooke played guitar, and we just messed around. During Chase's family reunion we went boating and it was pretty dang fun!

Here is the group again on a hill next to Chase's house. We went up and had a fire and tin foil dinners. Probably my favorite part of the weekend.

The boys!

The girls!

Sunset at our camp fire.

We went for a four-wheeling ride up on the hill where we had the camp fire.

In Utah at the pool!

We also made it to Utah to see Bridget, Brad, Finley, and my mother one weekend!

This is Chase "helping" me move. We had fun :)

At Chase's family reunion. Brooke (Chase's sister), me, and Mason (Chase's nephew).

Chase suprised me at his family reunion and took me horse back riding! So much fun! I didnt take many pictures during the reunion because I was sick...sorry :(.

We also made it to Mesa Falls. This is about 30 minutes from Rexburg. Chase at the Upper Falls. What a good looking guy!

Chase and I at the Upper Falls (PS I hate my arm placement in this picture!)

This is at the Lower Falls at sunset.

Our summer adventures will continue and hopefully I will be better about keeping you all posted! Love you all!

I am just becoming more awesome each day!!

2011-06-28T21:29:00.000-07:00

I make a skirt!!! Here is the proof. It was really easy! The instructions for making this skirt are located at this blog. I did the whole thing within a couple of hours. For the more experienced ones out there, you could do it much faster. Here is a list of firsts for me during this adventure...

1. First Skirt

2. First zipper (invisible)

3. First bow

4. First hem

5. First wearable item

I had so much fun doing this and I cant wait to start my next project! I also learned a ton while doing this because it forced me to explore options with my machine. One thing I did not learn is how to zig-zag the edges....I tried and failed. I think I am going to need someone to show me . I will work on it though! I also added the visible stitching on the skirt to add a little something something and I LOVE IT!!! Enjoy admiring my hard work!!

The final product!

The zipper. Not great, but not bad for a first time with instructions from the Internet!

This is me wearing the skirt!! This is before I made the bow, but I was just too excited to try it on!

ps Sorry for not writing in this thing for a while. I have been sooooo busy! That means I have lots to blog about :). See you all very soon!

Progress on the Facebook fast...

2011-05-25T20:24:00.000-07:00

It has now been 25 days and I can honestly say that I have not logged into my facebook once. It actually hasnt been that hard. The hardest time was the first couple of days. Most of the time I totally forget about it. I have tested the waters, and it turns out that you can live without facebook. I know!! Shocking! It has been a really good month and I have one more week left. I know I have probably missed out on a lot of information that I dont really need to know. I know I have missed a few pictures that give a few clues as to who is dating who, but I really don't care. Hopefully I will not be as addicted as I was before and I can get some things done. There is also a part of me that wishes that I have TONS of messages, so get to my facebook and make me feel loved!! :) Thanks in advance.

Quilt Number Two!

2011-05-16T13:35:00.000-07:00

I finished my second quilt a couple of weeks ago, but I have been very slow about getting pictures up. I made it pretty big, so I put it on my bed! My favorite color is purple if you didnt know :).

I got new gray sheets to go with them!

You can see the back of the quilt and the sheets in this one. I love it!

May Madness! Mavs IN, Lakers OUT.

2011-05-09T14:01:00.000-07:00

It all started in May of 2006. I lived in Dallas, Texas and the Mavs were kicking trash in the Playoffs! Everywhere we went the game was sure to be on and it was such a glorious time. In June of 2006 I moved to Utah, which happened to be during the Final games between the Heat and the Mavs. The Mavs were doing pretty awesome, but as soon as I left Texas, they lost to the Heat. It was a sad day, and I have forever disliked the Heat. Another year my dislike turned to the Golden State Warriors who knocked out the Mavs during the first round, even though the Mavs were seated first. And of course those Lakers...I am one of the few (being sarcastic) people who do not like the Lakers. I could not be happier to have the Lakers out of the Playoffs, let alone that the MAVS got them out!! This is just a tribute to my team. I can honestly say that I am not a fairwheather fan, and I stick by those Mavs through good and bad (even when they got rid of Nash--who is my favorite player). Good luck Mavs!!

Facebook Fast...

2011-05-01T14:59:00.001-07:00

It has been 16 hours without facebook...

Much harder then I anticipated...

It will be worth it...

easter

2011-04-27T21:27:00.001-07:00

Easter has been a little downplayed for me these last few years in college. I took the initiative to buy and decorate eggs!! I invited all these people...and chase was the only one to show up. Thats ok! They missed out!! Here are a few pictures of our adventures. Enjoy!

the supplies...

chase and his amazing egg dying skills

finished eggs, which soon turned into this...

humpty-dumpty...

all the finished eggs...including the traditional "all colors on one egg" egg :)

Oldies but Goodies

2011-04-23T14:41:00.000-07:00

As I ventured out to the wonderful Deseret Industries I realized that I have an interesting habit. I LOVE to collect old books. When I am at DI I always make sure to check out any hidden treasures in the book department. I have found a variety of many items ranging all over the place. My collection includes: an old hymn book from the 1940s, a dictionary from the 1920s, an etiquette book from the 1920s, and my newest addition (as pictured below) is a series of books that have familiar stories in them including; Huckleberry Finn, little women, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, Alison in Wonderland, Sherlock stories and many more! I am very happy with my purchase, and here are a few of the books!

PS How awesome is my camera?? Pretty dang awesome.

change is good

2011-04-21T23:40:00.000-07:00

facelift complete...like?

THE list

2011-04-17T17:19:00.000-07:00

I have decided to start on THE list. When I say THE list, I mean THE life list of things that I need to start doing. A few things on this list are; planting a garden (at least one thing I can eventually eat), sky diving, learning how to sew (done!! So now it has changed to "learn how to sew better), and learn how to bake bread.

I have come to tell all that I have attempted to make bread! I started small with rolls. The scariest part of making bread is the yeast...I seem to always screw that part up. So while I was making rolls on this wonderful, yet windy Sunday, I realized that I was having some major anxiety about that dumb yeast! I called my faithful old roommate, Emma, who put my fears to rest. The next phase of anxiety for me was when I had to knead the bread...I was scared of adding too much flower and ruining this piece of art work after I had gotten so far into the process! It was really sticky and I was adding a lot of flour. I complained and sweat a little while I continued in my task and eventually set it aside to rise (crossing my fingers that the dumb yeast was actually going to work!). And...IT DID!! I was so excited and my current roommate can testify of that! It was smooth sailing from there. I have made rolls and they were awesome!! Below is picture proof of my perfection! The next task is going to make actual loafs of bread...im scared.

the creation

BYU-Idaho can be cool...if it wants to be.

2011-02-20T19:58:00.000-08:00

During the Fall semester of 2010 my friend Blain organized a lib dub. They basically made a music video with a ton of people on campus. They filmed the whole thing backwards...including singing the song backwards. They then played it in reverse and put the music to it. I think it turned out pretty dang awesome. The video is a little long, but well worth it. Enjoy!

p.s. Yes...there is snow. What would rexburg be without snow?

Whats in a name?

2011-02-20T19:43:00.000-08:00

Post 2: The meaning of your blog name.

Honestly, I am not a very creative person and I was looking for a good blog name. I dont really like this one that much, but I like to travel and I like music, so it just kind of fit. I wanted the title to be something about the journey of life. I have many plans in my life and this is kind of a way for me to track all the things that I do in my life.

This post was a little lame. I will post again and try to regain my "awesome" status with all my many readers ;).

15 Things

2011-01-26T12:21:00.000-08:00

Here is the beginning of 30 different prompts that I found on my friend's blog. I decided that my life is never interesting enough to blog regularly, so I have to steal ideas from other people.

Blog 1: Write 15 things about yourself and include a recent photo.

I decided to make it a list of things that most people do not know about me to make things more interesting.

1. I LOVE peanut butter. Most people know this, but few actually know how deep the love goes. I am fully convinced that mixing anything with peanut butter will make it taste good. My favorite candy is chocolate and peanut butter (in every form). In fact...im eating a peanut butter and honey sandwhich right now. :)

2. I love Harry Potter (the books not the character/actor). I have read them twice and both times have been a great experience. I am about to start listening to them on CD while I drive to and from work. When I get into a good book, my whole world becomes that book. So here I go, Im about to go live at Hogwarts for the next few months. Ill let you know when I return.

3. I like to watch poker on ESPN, but I hate to play the game myself. I have no idea why I enjoy it so much, I just do. Dont judge me.

4. I read magazines back to front. This is a habit I got from my mother. Its weird. I know. I dont really see a purpose in it. It is just a habit of mine.

5. I cant sleep with my closet door open. I think I also got this habit from my mother. I remember laying in bed one night and my closet door was open. I was really scared that a man was standing in the closet looking at me, but I couldnt see him becuse it was too dark. He was just waiting for me to fall asleep so that he could attack me. Confession: I still have this fear. I even check my closet before closing the doors at night.

6. I might say that I cant cook, but the truth is that I am very good at it! I just dont have the money to cook like I want to. I really enjoy it!

7. I have always wanted to go to hair school. The thing that stopped me was the idea of working with only women for the rest of my life. I like the occational girl, but working in an all girl environment sounds like way too much drama for me! Maybe one day when Im rich, I can go to school and just have my own salon in my house.

8. I dont really like chocolate. This is kind of weird because I like it in some forms, but not others. Usually if it is paired with something (like peanut butter), I like it. I do NOT like chocolate cake or chocolate ice cream.

9. I used to believe that I was supposed to be a mermaid. I love the water way too much and when I was younger, I swear I could breath under water. I lost this talent with age due to the fact that I was a human and had to adapt to breathing above water. I still love water and can not get enough of it!

10. My favorite color is purple. Most people knwo this about me, but they dont know that I have tried not to like purple because a lot of people like purple. I like to be different, but I cant force myself to be different on this issue.

11. I work with juvenile delinquents as a PSR worker. I went to the county jail today. I deal with alcohol, drugs, aggression, difunctional families, and yelling almost every day, and for some reason I actually like it. I am learning and growing every day in more then one way.

12. I love dogs. I have always wanted to own a chocolate lab. They just make me happy, and they are just awesome. They also give you the excuse to go play outside!

13. I have a secret love for dancing. I can not dance worth anything, but I watch youtube videos of So You Think You Can Dance all the time. I wish I could move like they do. I probably never will be able to...so in the mean time, I watch and sit in awe.

14. I love to travel! I have been to many places in the world, but it only makes me realize all the places that I have not been. A few places I have been: Japan, Jerusalem, Egypt, Jordan, and many other places. A few places I want to go: Greece, Turkey, Ireland, Australia, and any other cool place that I am not thinking of.

15. I am addicted to my computer. I am always on it due to work, and so I have learned to rely on it. You can always reach me by email because I check it a few times a day. And yes, I am addicted to facebook. Not as bad as most people, I think I get on once or twice a day, so not too bad. Because I have relied so much on my computer, I would rather type anything then handwrite it--im talking even to do lists.

Here is a recent picture of me--also shown below in a previous post. :)

Well, there you have it. 15 things about me! Probably not that interesting to the two of you that read this thing, but thats ok. Untill next time!!!

Becoming Domestic

2011-01-22T17:29:00.000-08:00

My wonderful mother got me a sewing machine for graduation! My awesome sister got me fabirc to make a quilt for christmas (about 5 years ago)! I kept busy during christmas break making my first quilt! I made it in about 1 week, but it took me a few weeks to get the border done (I finished it my hand). Here is the product...I am pretty happy with it!!

Here is a close-up, I like the back a lot.

Life...?

2011-01-20T20:56:00.000-08:00

I had a hard time naming this entry because there really isnt a theme. I plan on covering my graduation, christmas break, current life and upcoming events!

Lets start with graduation! I graduated and here is a picture to prove it! I should also mention that my awesome father bought me a fancy new camera for bir-uation-mas (that is birthday-graduation-christmas, thanks to Cassidy) present. All these pictures were taken with this new spancy camera! Anyway...graduation was...weird. It has been over two months and I still cant believe that I am graduated. I have been knocked into the real world in a few different ways, but we will talk about those later. My father, mother, and aunt all made it up to the cold burg for graduation. We spend the weekend moving me into my new apartment, eating, and just playing. It was fun, but I am excited it is over. Moving was too much fun and I like being on a regular schedule a little too much.

The new BYU-I center. First graduating class in the new building!

So now there was Christmas! My mother, aunt, and I all made it to Bryce Canyon for Christmas. It was a very different Christmas for me. I struggled with not waking up to a Christmas tree, but it was still a very good time with my mother and aunt. We watched movies, went to the hot tub, talked, played games, ate good food, and just enjoyed each others company. We also made a short trip to the canyon. We couldnt very well drive to Bryce Canyon and not see Bryce Canyon. It snowed a lot the day before, so most of the park was closed. We did get a quick peek at the canyon. It was so pretty with all the snow! Plus, my camera did a pretty good job of capturing the moment. First, I forgot that we took these pictures. My sister, Bridget, made this wreath for my mother. Me, being the mean sister that I am, decided to take a series of different pictures with the wreath. As we went on, my mother came up with the best one yet!

Its a bracelet.

It is a skrunchy.

This was my mother's idea. None of us could stop laughing! Thanks for new the toilet seat cover Bridget!

Here is me at Bryce Canyon.

My mother and aunt pete at Bryce Canyon.

So now we come to my current life. Well, I am spending most of my days working. I have been working for A to Z family services for 3 years now. We just changed our name to Tueller Counseling. After I graduated, they offered me a position as a PSR worker and also let me keep my job as the Case Manager Office Assistant. I keep busy doing both and I really do enjoy it. I have to remind myself how lucky I am sometimes, but I really do enjoy my job. It never gets boring, that is for sure. So my first day as a PSR worker, I get knocked into the job right away. My client had a little too much fun on New Years Eve and her probation officer took action right away. So within 30 minutes of meeting my client I get to see her cry, her probabtion officer get mad at her, the cops coming to her house, and so much more that I should not share for legal reasons. Thats the job I guess. Because all of my clients are juveniles, they tend to keep things interesting for me. I have a lot of work to do with all of my clients, and I hope that I can help them in some way, we will see.

Now for upcoming events!! Dring work today, while I was eating my lunch, I tend to take a quick peek at my friend's blogs. I ran across my friend, Marianna's, blog and she was going this 30 days of blogging thing. It just gives you 30 different prompts to write about on your blog. becasue I have been doing so well at updating this thing, I decided that I might do even better if I had some help! Plus, I dont have homework at nights anymore. I really dont have an excuse not to blog anymore. I spend most of my extra time with Chase, so we will see if I actually blog when he gets back in to town. I will make it a goal of mine.

Smells Like Team Spirit

2010-09-30T13:38:00.000-07:00

This is a little late, but better late then never right? At the end of last semester I got a group of people together to run the Temple to Temple Relay that was to take place at the begining of Fall semester. We start at the Rexburg temple and then make our way to the Idaho Falls Temple. It was a total of 36.7 miles of running, and it was so much fun!!! I only ran 3.5 miles, but the amazing Stu ran 7.8 miles (the longest leg). My team consisted of Tiffany, Me, Stu, Steven, Danny, Kris, Marianna, and Kala. Steven drove his truck and we stopped at the check points to drop off and pick up runners. Below are pictures of the team at the Rexburg temple and the Idaho Falls temple. We even made the scroll (our school paper)!

Before the race (Steven, Danny, Kris, Stu, me, Tiffany, Melissa, and Kala).

After

Death by Homework

2010-09-15T16:10:00.000-07:00

This semester is going to be a long, hard semester. Good thing I have graduation to motivate me! Here is a picture I found. Thought it was funny, and so I thought I would share it.

forever changed

2010-09-02T23:22:00.000-07:00

One year ago today I landed in Jerusalem to spend the most amazing three and a half months of my life. It changed my life forever because of the knowledge I gained, the people I met, and the placed I went. I miss it so much and can not wait for the day when I get to go back!

This is me on my birthday withe Jerusalem in the background. If you look close you can see the temple mount.

Mockingjay!

2010-08-29T16:20:00.000-07:00

So the third book in the Hunger Games series came out. A group of us decided to go to the midnight release of the book at Barnes and Nobles in Idaho Falls. We got there and they gave us mockingjay tatoos, we did face painting, we made mockingjay pins and finally we stood in line to get the book! This was all on Monday night and I have finished the book already. SO good and I want to start re-reading the series. Here is proof of our awesome adventure! ps I promise an update of Zion's will come soon!

Me, Devin, Steven, and Amy with our books, tats, pins, and face painting.

one of those days

2010-08-25T16:47:00.000-07:00

When I explain to people what I do for work, the most common response I receive is something along the lines of "That must be a really tough job." I love my job, I have grown in ways that I never thought possible, and I can not wait to grow more in the future. For those of you who don't know what I do, I used to work with children in a partial care and now I work in the Case Management office dealing more with adolescence. Most, if not all, of these children have been abused in some way. For the most part I think I handle my job well, but every now and then you get those days when you hear one too many things. Today was one of those days. I will spare you the details, and simply say that today I love my family.

Here is a tribute to my amazing family. Forgive me for complaining because I couldn't go to a friends house or when you made me do chores (which I was fully convinced only evil parents did), or any time I had to do something I didn't want to do. All members of my family are amazing people. I will forget this fact, but I will have another one of these days to help me realize how much I love them again.

Me, Bridget, Finley, Brad, Shelley, Michael, Iain, and Mother (missing: Cassity and Ryan)

Dad and Bridget. I haven't been home for a few years, and I dont have a picture of my Dad, so I stole this from Bridget's blog.

I am growing up...

2010-08-23T08:54:00.000-07:00

Growing up my mother always told us that we were finally adults when we liked grown-up foods like broccoli, eggs, and other foods that children typically don't like. Well, I have come to say that I now like eggs and occasionally broccoli!! I think I am finally an adult.

Second change is about my awesome music collection. I have never really liked country music, in fact I would go as far to say that I HATED country music. Let me defend myself here. In High School there was a certain crowd who listened to country music. They were the lifted truck guys who felt like they owned everything and everyone. I hated those guys in high school, so naturally when I heard country music, I hated it. A perfect example of Pavlov's Classical Conditioning. There were a few exceptions through the years, but for the most part it made my skin crawl. A few weeks ago I was driving home from work, and I felt like listening to country music. "What is this feeling?" I asked myself, but I followed my desire and found country music on the radio and I have not stopped listening to it since. I am actually listening to Lady Antebellum Radio on Slacker.com. Not complaining at all. Idaho is proud of me, and maybe Texas is proud of me now.

COMING SOON!! An update about my funny/awesome/incredible weekend down in Zions.

Hi, I'm Alex and I am a Mormon

2010-08-18T08:18:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I was watching the very interesting and well done news of Idaho. They cover stories like the local high school play, or the local girl who made it to the final show of America's Got Talent as their top stories. I usually watch, judge, and laugh at such meager news stories for entertainment. Last night I was not at all suprised when they decided to cover a story about the new Mormon ads that are out. They asked people around town what they thought of the new ads. My roommate decided she wanted to watch a few, so we looked them up and they are actually really awesome. These are two of my favorite, but they are all pretty much awesome. Watch and enjoy! Ps. I might have teared up a bit during the one with the mother with 5 children.

Chasing Pavements

2010-08-12T08:29:00.000-07:00

This is an awesome music video that Devin showed me. It has a whole dance with them laying down. It is really cool. Watch and enjoy!

T-14 days till...

2010-08-10T11:31:00.000-07:00

The count down has started till the third book in the Hunger Games trilogy comes out! With the help of my co-worker, Melissa, we have officially hooked the entire office (mostly just the girls, which is the entire office staff!). We looked up the times and locations of the midnight party which we are fully planning on attending. 10 pm, Teton Mall, Barnes and Nobels. Excited yet? Well you should be!!

How to Have fun in the Burg!

2010-07-11T19:01:00.001-07:00

You might ask, how does one exactly have fun while going to BYU-I in Rexburg, Idaho? Well, this blog entry will answer that question for you.

Big Judd’s: A ridiculous place about 15 minutes away from Rexburg. It is a burger place and boy is it good, and boy does it make me sick every time I eat there. They have this challenge where you can eat their 1-pound hamburger and you get a picture on the wall. I am ok with never accomplishing this challenge.

My preschool team. They are awesome and we took a trip to Big Juds.

Bon Fires: One of the many bonuses of having friends who live locally is that they know what to do and how to do it. Bon Fires is one of these things! Roast mellows, socialize, cobbler, horse shoes, and of course, a fire.

Bon Fire in the middle of no place with EVERYONE!

Ward Functions: Fact: I live in the best ward ever. This semester we had ward Olympics (which my FHE group won) and we also did the 50-lap relay (and our ward got 2^nd)! So much fun!

Ward Olympics and this is most of my FHE group! Wade's World!

50-Lap Relay. Jordi, Me, Holli, Valerie, Kami.

Rodeo: I don’t think this was a real rodeo, but I don’t know any better. BYU-I students got the chance to ride a steer. Both Leanna and Tim rode and both did awesome!

Rodeo before Leanna and Tim rode!!

“R” Mountain: We hiked “R” mountain at like 10 at night and it was so much fun. It was a full moon and so we didn’t need flash lights. On the hike up we gathered wood and ended up having a fire when we got up there. The fire smelled so bad, but the mellows tasted pretty good!

At the top of "R" Mountain. Me, Valeria, Kami, Holli, Danny.

Campus activities: These are actually pretty fun. They organized this huge water day and they had a huge slip and slide, water baseball, watermelon, and lots of other things. Another thing was Extravadance. My old roommate, Brooke, was in it and of course she was amazing.

Water day on campus. We are all wet from the slip and slide!

Valerie’s House: My roommate, Valerie, lives in Blackfoot and she had us over for a little camp out in her yard. Roasted mellows, ate hamburgers, watermelon, had a fire, and camped in tents. It was so much fun!

Holli, Valerie, and I at Valerie's house. So much fun!

Service!: During Spirit week on campus there was a service project making blankets and making cards, it was a great experience.

Kami and I at the Service Project.

FHE: Fact #2: I have the best FHE group ever! We have made shirts, went to the park and played ultimate, played in water, made graham candy houses, went four-wheeling, went and had ice cream and I am sure we will be doing so much more!

FHE when we played ultimate. I was the one that got booted over to the other FHE team and we totally dominated!!

ST. GEORGE!!!: Technically this isn’t in Rexburg, but it was organized with people who live in Rexburg and we drove from Rexburg.

Day 1: Friday. Drove 8 hours to St. George where Dave’s Brother, Dan, greeted us in his amazing house. Dan made us smoothies. We ended to night by watching Sandlot.

Day 2: Saturday. Made sandwiches and had tons of food. Went to the lake and found some cliffs. The pictures say it all. It was so much fun, and so beautiful. That night Dan grilled chicken for us and made us this huge dinner.

This is me jumping off of one of the cliffs. We swam to this little Island. You can see the shore in the distance. It was a pretty hefty swim, but so worth it!

Day 3: Sunday. Went to church. Had an interesting Sunday school teacher, he was very dramatic. Had a funny Relief Society President. She called us “Dave’s Harem.” Made me laugh. Then we went home, played games, took naps, ate another awesome lunch. Then we went to Stari’s, Dan’s wife, parent’s house. I thought Dan’s house was big, but this thing was crazy big. First we jumped on their trampoline, then we played volleyball in their backyard, and tether ball. Then we had Kabobs, which Dan cooked. Then we played soccer in their indoor soccer gym. But before all this we got a tour of the full gym they have, the full theater room they have, and the rest of the huge house. Crazy fun!!

This is Julie in the sand box that is underground/ under the trampline. So awesome!

Indoor soccer! I scored at least 3 times. Kind of proud of myself :)

Day 4: Monday. We decided that we needed to go on a hike before we left St. George and it was the best decision made all weekend. It was just outside Cedar City and it was through a river and up waterfalls. Once again the pictures don’t do it justice, but it gives you the idea. It was almost like a mini narrows hike. Then we drove 5 hours to my house where my wonderful mother provided dinner for us, and then the remaining 3 hours the Rexburg. Best weekend EVER!!

Climbing up the waterfall. Devin, Kami, Valerie, Rachel, Julie, Dave, and me at the very top!

The whole crew again! Love this picture!

Boating: Another plus about having roommate that live locally. My roommate, Holli, has a boat and her father took us on Saturday. I only went tubing, but they have wake boards, skis, slalom, knee boarding, and the skyski. It got really cold, and that is why I stopped once the sun went away. Still so much fun!!

Boating on Holli's boat and she isnt even in the picture. I am on the tubes all the way to the right.

Upcoming events: Jordi’s cabin in island park, floating the river, more boating, swimming at beaver dick park, Rigby lake, water fights, and more fun things that involve me getting tan!!

Back to the Burg

2010-04-08T16:22:00.000-07:00

I have now been home from Jerusalem for almost 4 months and it has been even longer than that since my last entry. I apologize and will try to be better…not that anyone reads this thing anyways.

This winter semester has been a crazy one. From school to dating to working to being ill, it has been a ride!

Lets start with school. I had the opportunity to take some really good classes this semester including Social Psychology, Social Problems, Adult Development, a Vocal class, Professional Development and a religion class.

Favorite: Social Psychology

Reason: We studied things like; why people get mad, why people help, personality, aggression, understanding yourself, the need to justify, and other awesome and interesting topics. Class was so much fun and interesting. We also had such a diverse group of people that it made class that much more interesting. Downfall was the tests….killer.

As for my social life, it has been a lot of fun this semester. Lucky me had three engaged roommates, so they were pretty much useless when it came to a social life. I ended up meeting tons of new people and had lots of things to do. Not much more to say in this area…maybe it wasn’t as great as I thought? No, it was great!

Working is work? I am now working in the office mostly, which means I get to talk to some very interesting people when they come in. I am in on most of the scoop and I am learning how to do tons of stuff. Part of me misses the kids, but then I get the chance to work with them on Mondays and Wednesdays. They are fun and cute, but they have their moments. I think I like them better from a distance…

As most of you know it has been an interesting semester with me being sick most of it. I got sick at the beginning of the semester and just never really recovered. I got sick again about 2 weeks ago and it got really bad. Body aches, headaches, temperature, extremely sore throat, and the feeling of death approaching. Tuesday morning I went to the Health Clinic on campus, they looked at my throat and then sent me to a specialist who sent me to the hospital to have emergency surgery to have the abscesses on my throat removed and take out my tonsils. Went to the hospital where they hooked me up to an IV. By this point I hadn’t been drinking water because it was extremely difficult so getting the IV in was an interesting experience. It took about 10 minutes of them tying my arm, flicking the back of my hand, and sticking me a needle to find the vain. Once they got it in, they gave me some morphine so I was no longer mad at them. They gave me a few more drugs, took me into surgery and I was a goner. Next thing I know, I am awake and life still sucks. If you don’t have to get your tonsils out when you’re an adult, I recommend that you don’t do it—not a fun experience. My mother was awesome enough and drove to Rexburg to get me. I went home for the rest of the week, which means that I missed a full week of classes right before exam week. Exam week was fun J

That pretty much sums up my semester.

See you again in 5 months! (Just kidding. I will try to be better about writing in this thing)

Boker Tov!

2009-11-03T07:39:00.000-08:00

It has been a while and I apologize, but then not because I have been having too much fun! A lot has happened and so I wont be able to tell about everything. We went to this biblical park, crushed our own olives and eventually get our own oil, went to the Dead sea, and went to Jordan!

So the Dead Sea was pretty cool, but I honestly loved hiking and swimming in the near by waterfalls much better. We had to pay like 6 Shekels (a little less then $2) to get into this park and we just hiked up to these waterfalls. I climbed up the waterfall and jumped off and it was so much fun! I wish we spent more time at the waterfalls and then less time at the Dead Sea, but it was still super fun. This park is also part of several tour groups, so we had an audience while swimming and it was kind of funny. They probably thought we were idiots, but we didn’t even care. So after we were in this park for a couple hours we walked over to the Dead Sea. First off, it is really gross. Second, it was the weirdest thing ever! I could sit in the water and raise my hands and feet our of the water and not have any problems at all. That was a lie. I had problems getting out of the water because it took some work to get my feet under the water to stand up. The rocks on the side of the “beach” were coated in thick layers of salt. So there was a big group of us that were all just hanging out and talking in the water and all of a sudden we see this guy just covered in mud. So Jeremy and I decided to go find where his source was because we wanted the full Dead Sea experience. He ends up leading us to it and handing over piles of mud. I can not even begin to explain the odor that was coming from this sometimes expensive product. I almost threw up several time, but I got the pictures and the experience! I swear I could still smell it after several showers, but I knew I was just making it up. So overall, Dead Sea experience was good and we are going back!

Now JORDAN!!! I LOVED Jordan. I liked it better then Egypt just because it was a lot more relaxed, but Petra and Jerash was just as cool as the Pyramids. First we drive to Petra and we get there pretty late so it is already dark. We went and walked around the streets and talked to the shop owners and we ended up dancing with a bunch of Jordanians and tourists in the streets outside a restaurant. We had just had our Arab dancing night so we knew all the dances and everything. It was way cool, but not as cool at PETRA!! We get up pretty early the next morning because our tour guide wanted to get there first. Great idea because there really wasn’t that many people there in the morning. I have tons of pictures without others in it and the weather was awesome. I don’t really know what to say about the famous treasury in Indiana Jones, except it really is that awesome. I would love to be able to verbally express the grandness of it all, but I know I cant. The details and the idea of it all being carved out is just amazing. We also hiked up to the Monastery which is just as huge as Petra and I had never heard or seen pictures of it before. Petra was huge and there are caves everywhere and carvings and theaters and just awesomeness. The colors of the rock are also indescribable. I think I got a few good pictures of the colors of the rock. So moral of the story: PETRA WAS AWESOME!

I had never heard of Jerash either and this was also pretty dang cool. It is an ancient Roman city and it is huge! This girl in our group went to Rome not too long ago and she said that Jerash blew all of that the pieces. There were remains of hundreds of pillars, a theater, fountains, and churches.

The last big place we went to in Jordan was the River Jordan. First off, it was really gross. I took a picture with my finger in the water and I had to hanatize it right after. Second, it was really skinny, probably seven feet. And Israel is right on the other side of that river.

I know my blog entries get long, but I just get so excited about everything I get to see and do and I don’t want to leave anything out. So if you don’t want to read details, I am doing great, having a blast, and I am not returning as the person I came.

Grandpa Elder Holland

2009-11-03T07:38:00.000-08:00

I felt like this topic deserves a separate post because it was so amazing and this experience alone will make me a changed person. I had the wonderful opportunity to spend 48 hours with Elder Holland. He came two weekends ago because he had some church business in Lebanon. He was in charge of the Center and he always makes a stop here. He came on Sabbath (Saturday) and we got to eat dinner with him before he gave his fireside. The fireside started with a musical number given by 8 people in our group. They sang Master, the Tempest is Ranging. It was the most beautiful musical number I have ever experienced. I have never really been a huge fan of the song, but the arrangement and the voices were all just too perfect. I started crying at this point and I knew I was in trouble. Elder Holland, as we all know, is amazing. He spoke on mercy and how is the Christ’s main attribute that we all need to work on. The ultimate example of his perfect mercy is the Atonement. Before he got into the heat of his talk he spoke on the Center and his love for this place. Then in the Elder Holland tone he commanded us to never return as the person we came. He said if we did we would be a disappointment to this church. I mean, I was always motivated to be a changed person, but now it is on a different level. I don’t mind the extra encouragement. Everyone I spoke to thought that Elder Holland was speaking right to them during his fireside. But they are all WRONG, because he was talking to me! J He influenced us all and we all needed to hear it.

Elder Holland was staying in the Center so we got the unique experience to see him several more times. We saw him later that night and got a picture with him. We also got to see him the next morning. A bunch of us were going to the Dead Sea so we were all upstairs waiting for our taxi and all of a sudden someone grabs my neck. Lo and behold it is Elder Holland. He just stood there for a few minutes and talked about going to the Dead Sea and told us to have fun. I feel like he could be my grandpa or something. He is very kind and very funny. His wife is very cute and little. I received hugs from both of them. I know that this experience alone was awesome. Combining it with the fact that I am in Jerusalem just makes it that more unique and that more amazing. I am definitely a changed person.

More Pictures!

2009-10-13T05:36:00.000-07:00

Me really happy about the sunset

Steve, me, and Derrick happy about the sunset again.

Leanna, me, Kaylie, and Taren in the ocean.

This is the morning of the last day of Sukkot at the western wall. Dome of the rock in the background.

Matisyahu. We were closer at one point, but none of those pictures turned out as well.

Me and Hailey before the concert.

Jerusalem, If I Forget You

Lea Bea the Great (aka Leanna Davidson's blog which is better then mine)

2009-10-09T10:19:00.000-07:00

The Ballad on Stairs

Morning light to setting dusk
climbing stairs is a must

Top to bottom, bottom to top
the merciless stones is a must

Sweating 'n Panting as I climb
If it does not stop I'll lose my mind

Weak calves, complaining toes
this is a hell I have not choose

Right left I can't escape
They haunt my dreams and when i wake

When will it stop when will it end
the wrath of the stone will not bend

If your reading this hear my plea:
Drown my sorrows and send cookies to me.

Leanna Davidson

btheholyland.blogspot.com

Jerusalem, if i forget you...

2009-10-09T09:00:00.000-07:00

During all the anticipation of coming to Jerusalem I was going through all of my stuff because I had to move out of my apartment and organize things at my mothers house. One of the things that I did was go through some of my old journals. I am not going to lie; I think the most I had written in one journal was about 30 pages. I have about 6 journals and they all start “I know I have been really bad about writing in my journals before, but this time it is different.” I was shamed. So I found an empty journal that I bought so long ago I can’t even remember (probably a New Years resolution that never happened) and I made it one of my main goals to write in it everyday during this semester and hopefully develop a life long habit. I am happy to report that I have not missed one day! It makes writing this blog a little easier because I have forgotten what has happened already!

Naturally, a lot has happened but I will only tell some of the highlights. Sukkot and tensions, Jericho, Journey of Faith movie, General Conference, Heziekiah’s tunnel, and MATISYAHU!!

Ok, so Sukkot is a Jewish holiday and it lasts a week. They build these booths that they eat in and some children will sleep in them at night. They can decorate them with lights and fruit and all kinds of different things. It is to memorialize the journey from Egypt to Caanan and they give thanks for harvests and they pray for rain. This holiday has caused a lot of tension between the Muslims and Jews. Not really the holiday itself, but the Temple Mt. has been shut down and that has caused tension. It should open after Sukkot though. Lots of riots, rocks being thrown, and most everything has been shut down for us. We can only go to West Jerusalem and we have to pay for a taxi there and back so it gets a little old. But being here during Sukkot has been so great. We got to go to the Western Wall this morning for the last day of Sukkot. We were allowed to take pictures and I got some pretty cool ones (pictures coming within the week). They have their willows and their citron and they shake them and bang them while praying for rain. It was a really neat experience.

Jericho was pretty awesome. It was really small and the oldest known manmade structure is there. Got a picture, don’t worry. Jericho is also below sea level and it was really hot. Right outside the walls of Jericho there was this guy with fruit and I bought a mango. I ate it a few days later and it was the most heavenly thing I could imagine. I want to go back and just buy lots and lots of fruit!

I don’t know if anyone has seen or heard of the movie Journey of Faith but we got to watch it here. It is a history thing about the archeological evidence that supports the Book of Mormon. Brother Brown is the head guy here and he was the one to find this evidence! That is so awesome! He is in the movie and my Ancient History teacher is in the movie as well. I would watch it sometime, I have been to most of the cites they talk about, and it is just pretty cool.

General Conference. Not much to say about this except that is was amazing as usual. I was one of the dedicated ones who stayed up to watch it live. They were on at 6:00 and then 10:00. They are playing them again tomorrow for those who missed them. I would have to say that Holland’s was my favorite talk. I just love how forward he is and just says it how it is. His whole talk was his testimony and man it is a powerful one. As for the rest of conference; basically we all need to love each other!

Hezekiah’s tunnel was so awesome! It is this tunnel that they built so that they could get water into the walls of their city. We got to walk through it and the water got above our knees. It was pitch black and it was just a lot of fun. I want to go back sometime with fewer people because they were kind of pushing us through with so many people.

Last, but not least MATISYAHU!! First off, it was the strongest base I have ever felt in my life and it was awesome! Second, it was right outside the Old City wall. I cannot believe I had the chance to see Matisyahu in Jerusalem. I have heard a lot of his music before and I liked it. I never owned any of his music, but this concert was so awesome! I have been to concerts before and everyone just mind their own business. This concert everyone was talking to everyone. This one guy found out that we were mormon and everyone was yelling for the mormons. At first they though it was weird that we were there and then he said it don’t matter what religion you are, Matisyahu is awesome! He was drunk, but pretty funny. We were pretty close and I got some pretty sweet pictures and even a video of him singing the Jerusalem song.

IT IS SO AWESOME HERE!! Hopefully, we will be able to break free of the center next week and hit some more cites. Sunday we are going to the beach in Tel Aviv again and I am so excited! It is the last day we can go because the beaches close in a week. It will be a blast, so ill post some pictures of that as well. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to come here, and I don’t regret any of it, even when we are stuck in this center. I am meeting some amazing people and seeing some amazing things and I am trying my hardest to soak in everything that I can.

PICTURES!!!

2009-09-29T04:11:00.001-07:00

These are some pictures from Egypt. They are in random order because i am in a hurry. Egypt was so much fun, i wish i could post all my pictures! Enjoy!

Veiw of the Nile from out hotel room.

In front of the big pyramid, which i went in!

This is a pretty good picture of how green egypt is, and in one step is pure desert.

Hiking down Mt. Sinai. 700 stairs was the last part of the hike.

This is Dave and I on top of Mt. Sinai.

Kyle and I at sunset, i look pretty weird in this picture.

Right when we got to the top. Best part of the Egypt trip!

At the pool in Cairo. These guys in our group like to through us and this is me doing a backflip.

Kaylie, me, Tess, and Leanna at the Oasis Hotel.

EGYPT!

Leanna and I outlining the pyramid!

This is our camel right at sunset by the Nile.

Walk Like an Egyptian

2009-09-26T11:44:00.000-07:00

So I went to Egypt this past week. It was pretty much the most amazing thing ever!

Day 1

Wake-up call is at 5:30 am for breakfast and loading the bus. We start our drive and stop every 1 ½ hours for field trip stop or bathroom breaks. We stopped many places but I think my favorite of the day was this lookout place overlooking the Wilderness of Zin. It had this Grand Canyon feel to it, but it was all one color, gray. We stop at this Kibbutz close to the boarder to sleep. A Kibbutz is a small socialist community. We got a tour of the place, they fed us dinner then we got to go to bed.

Day 2

Wake-up call is at 6:00. The Kibbutz feeds us breakfast and we get sack lunches as well. Then we head to the boarder where it takes about an hour to cross. At one point we could see Israel, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan all at once. We also got to see the Red Sea and it was so beautiful. After we crossed the border we drive the Cairo with a few pit stops on the way. They take us to the Oasis Hotel and we see the Pyramids for the first time on the way. They were amazing! Later that night we got to go to the sound and light show. It was really cheesy, but I am glad I got to go.

Day 3

Wake-up call is at 6:00. We went to the Pyramids first because we wanted to buy tickets to go into the big Pyramid. They only sell 200 a day and each person has to be there to buy the ticket. Oh, I forgot to mention that every tour bus is required to have armed guys on the bus for our protection. We are in line to get these tickets and all these people try to cut us. Our bodyguards form this line around us and it was awesome. We all ended up getting our tickets and I went to the biggest Pyramid!! So cool, and so different then I thought. The place where they found his actual body was this black room with smooth walls and that is it. We also saw the sphinx. We saw lots of pyramids, and walked a lot, and it was a long day. We then went to this papyrus factory and that was pretty cool. After that we took a plane to Luxor. We stayed at this Sheraton Hotel and it was so nice.

Day 4

Wake-up call is at 6:00. First thing I do is open our balcony door and there is the Nile, looking big and beautiful. It was so great! This day we went and saw lots of temples and tombs. We went to the valley of the Kings and I went inside King Tuts tomb. His body was in there and I was not expecting that at all. His mummy is the smallest thing ever. After dinner, we got to ride a boat on the Nile to go ride a Camel. Our group got to go at sunset and it was so amazing! This night we also had free-time so we decide to take a carriage to do some shopping. These carriage guys are paid by shop owners to bring us to their shops, so it was an interesting night. I did get some cool stuff though.

Day 5

Wake-up call is at 6:00. Today we get to go to the Luxor temple and Karnack temple. We go in style though. We take a boat to the Luxor temple, then a carriage to the Karnack temple and then a carriage back to or hotel. So awesome! Karnack is my favorite temple so far. It was just so cool, and most of it was still standing. A lot of the temples I have seen you only have the outline of what was there. This temple had these huge pillars and statues and markings and it was just awesome. Then we had the whole afternoon free. Leanna was really sick this day and I was really tired already. So I went swimming in the pool, which is right by the Nile. It isn’t a good idea to actually go swimming in the Nile so I had to pretend a little. Later that night we load an overnight train to take us back to Cairo. Haha. I don’t even know what to say about this train. This room for two people was so small I could touch all four walls at one time. I ended up sleeping pretty well though.

Day 6

Wake-up call is at 5:00. Train arrives and we go back to the hotel for breakfast. We went the most beautiful Mosque. I took a lot of pictures of it, but none of them do it justice. I just wanted to sit in it all day and look at everything. Ill post pictures eventually again. We got to go to the Museum. This was pretty awesome as well. Saw all of King Tut’s belongings and lots of statues. Our tour guide read some hieroglyphics to us as well. He was a really smart guy. After the museum we got to go to Hard Rock Café! American food! It was like a whole new world in that place. I almost felt clean for a split second. They also took us to this market and I did some pretty awesome shopping. I really enjoy bargaining. I am not very good, but I had some moral support with me.

Day 7

Wake-up call is 9:00! We leave to drive down to Mt. Sinai. We make a few pit stops along the way, and make it to the Morganland Hotel. I had to kill about 9 cockroaches in our room, but it was nicer then any place I expected to stay while in Egypt.

Day 8

Wake-up call is 2:00. This was my favorite day by far. We wake-up early and we drive 10 minutes to the base of the mountain. It takes about 1 ½ hours climb. I make it up there before sunrise and it was unbelievable. We were also able to hold an Old Testament class up there and a testimony meeting. We sang hymns and wrote in our journals. I still can’t believe I had the opportunity to climb this holy mountain. We leave Mt. Sinai and head for the border. It takes us about 2 hours to cross because they are a little strict with who they let in. A couple of my fellow students were asked some intense questions but we all eventually made it through. We finally made it back to the Center around midnight and I felt at home. It was kind of weird, but I liked it. I am no longer living our of a suitcase, so I guess it is my home for now. I live in Jerusalem, the place where Jesus Christ walked. Who would have thought?

Now it is time to get back to real life. Study, study, study. Paper due in a few days, but I could not be happier right now.

From my dear friend Leanna

2009-09-26T10:55:00.000-07:00

From the Blog of Leanna Davidson (btheholyland.blogspot.com) -- Very funny and has some truth in it :)

The Holy Land Endorses More Then One Kind of Hotness

The holy land is a land of grueling heat. The sun beats persistently upon our flushed faces. Beads of perspiration dampen every article of clothing that hangs on our exerted foreigner bodies. I look into the sky searching for any sign of cloud coverage. There is none, but from out of the glare of the sun a figure emerges. Suddenly all my tribulations are put on the back burner while I studied this inaccessible stranger. Like every girl's dream guy mine is tall dark and handsome, but here the Philistines exceed these little girls dreams. They put American boys to shame. As shallow as it may seem we put a lot of emphasis on dress, and even more shallow are the brand names people use and flashy gaudy apparel wear to "peacock" themselves. But here fitted jeans with a tucked in shirt, belt, and a nice pair of shoes are all that are needed. I like this attitude of less is more, this idea that clothes do not define the individual. Also a deep sense of respect and sincerity for their culture and religion can be seen- this is such a refreshing attitude from the superficial minds that roam college campus. So again let me remind you the key points of a hot guy: A) Tall, Dark, with mysterious eyes. B) Fitted jeans, belt, a nice shirt extra points for tucked in, and classy shoes (mmm is all I can say) and C) Let out all that air up there and fill it with something more substantial. Unfortunately, guys are off limits during my stay here. But I will keep dreaming my little girl dreams of that perfect guy.

Pictures, they go from new to old.

2009-09-15T09:39:00.000-07:00

Elah Valley- David and Goliath

The Citidal with Kyle

The Citidal

My Favorite picture at the Citidal overlooking Jerusalem

We met these boys in the Old City a week ago, so funny!

Out by our Mormon University sign

Kaylie and Leanna overlooking Jerusalem at sunset

Leanna and Kaylie outside the Center on our first day of freedom!

First day of classes with Richie

This is a video of us singing at the bell caves, favorite part is leanna at the end. :)

Study, Study, Study

2009-09-09T13:13:00.000-07:00

School has officially started here. I am taking Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Modern Near Eastern Studies from a Palestinian and the same class from a Judean perspective, Old Testament (New Testament will start in two months), and Hebrew. I feel like all I have been doing for the past three days has been reading, most of which is going right over my head. I am learning a ton; it is just frustrating because I know that I am not getting all the knowledge. Getting all the information, of course, is unrealistic.

My favorite class so far is Hebrew! It is a pretty easy language to comprehend. After one class I know the first two letters of the alphabet (Alef and Bet) and know how to write them in script and recognize them in print (two different symbols for the same letter). I also understand how to write words, I just don’t have the knowledge to actually write them. It sounds complicated, but it really isn’t as hard as I thought it would be.

My Old Testament class is amazing as well. I took Old Testament about two semesters ago, so I love that I am learning it all again and picking up on new things. Part of our religion class is going to sites around the Hold Land. On Monday we had the opportunity to go to all these different view points around Jerusalem and see all sorts of things from a distance. We saw the City of David, Bethlehem, Rachel’s tomb, the Temple Mt./Mt. Moriah, Bethel, Mt. Zion, and a lot of other things. It was really cool to get back to the classroom and actually talk about them in text with the scriptures. I was actually reading about Abraham and Isaac when he takes him up on Mt. Moriah to sacrifice him and I looked up and there was Mt. Moriah! It was the coolest feeling ever and I am sure I will have other experiences similar to that.

As for the rest of my classes, they are pretty interesting. Today I found myself staying after a 2 hour class to listen more about Jewish history for another 45 minutes. There is so much I did not know about their history, their current faith and their practices. So much to learn, so little time!

So I went into the Old City a couple of days ago and we got a little lost, and these 9 year old boys could tell. We wanted to see the Dome of the Rock, but it is really hard to get close to because you have to be Muslim to go in. We just wanted a place to get a good look. They took us up on the roof of all these buildings and it was really cool up there. We ended up hanging out with them for like an hour and a half. One of the boys spoke four languages; English, Arabic, French, and this other language I haven’t even heard of. They were trying to teach us some Arabic, but they mostly just laughed and pointed at us because I am sure we were mispronouncing everything. They ended up inviting us to go to their house to meet their parents. We were not sure at the time if it was a good idea to go, but we found out that we are allowed to make friends with the local families. We obviously just need to be careful and such. This made me so excited to get to know more people here and it was just a good experience overall.

Well, it is late. I have some scriptures that need reading and a journal that needs writing, so I will leave you all for now. You probably wont hear from me again till after I go to Egypt (leave in a week, and will be gone for a week). So expect a long update! Thanks again for all your comments, I love reading them and hearing from you!

ps finished reading Catching Fire. Bridget, I will call you Saturday morning.

The Holy Land

2009-09-05T11:53:00.000-07:00

I finally made it! Jerusalem is great and nothing like I expected. We got off the plane in Tel Aviv and got on a bus to go to Jerusalem. On the way we did see a McDonalds. We finally got to the Center at about 4:30 pm and they would not let us go to sleep, instead we had to go to two more orientation meetings, dinner and things. The food here has been pretty amazing so far. Pita bread is a regular meal item (it even served as our sacrament bread). They have really good fruit and I’m excited to try some new things.

I have had the chance to walk around the Old City twice now. We are just trying to get familiar with it. Tomorrow we have a full free day and we plan to go to Sister Zion’s Convent, walk the city wall, Oscar Schindler’s grave, Dormitory Abby, and Chagall Windows. We have to go and write a short paper on a few of these cites for our Old Testament class. So far I have been to The Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Old City, and just kind of walked around Jerusalem. Today was the Sabbath so we had church, some people went to Gethsemane before church and I cant wait to go as well. After dinner we walked up Mt. Scopus past a hospital, and said hi to a few people. We found this really cool lookout and took some pretty awesome pictures. As for security, I feel a lot more secure then I thought. We have security guards all around the Jerusalem Center, they gave us cell phones, key cards, and most people in the city know us as mormons and kind of lookout for us, which I think is pretty awesome. The people are really nice and I cannot wait to get to know them better.

We found out today that the Hebrew University is only like a block away. I am taking an online class so I have to go there to use their Internet to work on that class. Hopefully I will be able to upload some pictures at that time. We go on our first field trip on Monday, and I’m expecting to take lots of pictures.

You shall hear from me soon! And it was really good to read your comments.

Until next time!

Bridget- I have Catching Fire and I am little more then halfway done. I plan on calling you and having a deep conversation about everything that has happened. It turns out I am a little busy so I only read when I cant do anything else.

Melissa- Hope you are able to read it, and you will have to let me know what you think of it! I love it so far!

From Vienna

2009-09-01T23:25:00.001-07:00

My first blog comes from the Vienna airport! Going to the airport at 400 am without sleep I boarded my first flight at 550 headed for Denver. We had a 45 minute layover and headed for Washington D.C. It was here that my first awesome surprise came. As we got off the airplane Kaylie and I hit every bookstore we saw on our way to our next gate. We found Catching Fire!!!! I am already half done with it. J After a 3 hour layover in D.C. we boarded a flight for 9 hours and landed in Vienna. We still have a 3 ½ hour flight to Tel Aviv and a bus ride before we actually reach our destination.

Unfortunately, I will not be able to upload pictures to my blog regularly. Most of my posts will be all text. I am using free wireless in the airport, so this will be your first and possibly last picture till I get back. It looks like I have been traveling for 20 hours, and that is because I have. Enjoy!

Kaylie, Leanna, and I in the Vienna Airport

7-week What?

2009-08-01T13:28:00.000-07:00

The 7-week break started about 1 ½ weeks ago here in Rexburg, Idaho. What does this exactly mean? It means that everyone goes home and Rexburg is a ghost town. I started thinking about all the fun activities that Rexburg has to offer and this is where I try my best to make Rexburg look awesome! (No particular order)

Ice Cream Parties

Looking through all my pictures I am realizing that this happens more then I realized. Face it, when Mormons get together they have some type of food. Ice cream is a cheap one that we have found and it is delicious!

Caves

Rexburg has two caves; the ice caves and the civil defense caves. I have only been to the Civil Caves, but I assure you that they are awesome!! We take glow sticks out there and play hide and go seek.

Floating the River

I had never done this until I came to Idaho. It is soo much fun! I went last year and got FRIED! This year I went in Preston, Idaho and was smart enough to put sun screen on this time. Hopefully ill get to go again.

Rigby “Lake”

When I say lake, it is more of a rather large pond. They have to fill it up each year, and it is the place to be. It is the closest that most of these people have ever gotten to a beach. When you go with awesome people, it is awesome! (I’m hoping if I use the word awesome enough that it will sink in).

Egin Lakes

Egin Lakes are these lakes in the middle of the sand dunes. The deepest it gets is like 4 feet. The water is usually not freezing (unlike every other body of water in Idaho). It is also a supreme place to play football or Frisbee in the water.

Guitar’s Unplugged

This goes a long with other school-sponsored events. Guitar’s Unplugged is really the only one that I am faithful in going to. This past semester we had some friends play in it. We all wore neon colors and our whole ward went. It was amazing!

Photo Booth

I realize that this fun can take place anywhere, but iv never had photo booth experiences like those in Rexburg, Idaho. Proof below.

Leanna will hate me for putting this picture on here, but it is my favorite!

Shooting

Never shot a gun until Idaho happened. I love it!

California Snowball fights

This can also take place anywhere, but iv only done it in Rexburg. You should try it sometime. Thats flour by the way.

Yes! Concerts!

Including William Joseph, Jack’s Mannequin (picture below and my favorite!!), Thriving Ivory, We Shot the Moon, Neon Trees, MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice, and I am sure there are plenty that I have not been to.

Parties

I am not much of a party girl, but the occasional dance parties are not bad.

Photo Shoots

These are also a regular occurrence, especially if your roommates are photography majors. I don’t mind.

Sledding

I am not a fan of snow, but sledding and snowboarding are excellent activities during the “dark” seasons. PS These pictures are of the day we went to Bear Gulch and I almost broke my back.

after the crash, if you couldn't tell

Ice Skating

The school has a rink set up year-round. During the summer it is used for roller-skating and during the winter, ice-skating. If you know me at all, ice skating is a favorite pastime of mine.

Spirit Week

Mostly just the 50 lap relay. As a ward we run 50 laps around the track (I ran two laps). This particular year we tie-dyed our shirts and it was…awesome!

Halloween

I stopped dressing up for Halloween when I was in 4^th grade. That is until college happened. Freshmen year- mummies Sophomore year-bumblebees Junior year-flapper girl Senior year- Ill be in Jerusalem.

Bon fires

These happen all the time, sometimes too much. I never regret going because I love foil dinners and smores.

Fourth of July

One of my favorite days sense being in Rexburg. Fourth of July 2008. We went to Idaho Falls, and it was great. We got this huge piece of grass and we set up a badminton court. We also had Frisbees, footballs, and we brought our own grills. We were thoroughly entertained by the people of Idaho Falls and at the end of the night we had an awesome fireworks show.

Sand Dunes

I have not had the opportunity to go to the Sand Dunes, but I hear it is great. I have been to Egin Lakes, but that doesn’t count. Its on my list of things to do in Rexburg.

R Mountain

I have hiked this many times. It is more of a walk, but it is fun. I have seen rabbits, snakes, scorpions, and lizards. One time on a date they took us up there and we poured glow sticks over the golf balls and hit them off the top when it got dark.

Thirsty Thursdays

35 cent refills. Diet Dr. Pepper. Need I say more?

Thief Tag

New found games. Kind of like lava monster. Someone is blindfolded, and they have to tag someone. The people not it can not get off the play set at all. Surprisingly fun.

This post is long enough, but I hope you have all received some insight to the awesomeness of Rexburg. If I forgot something, let me know.

Heck yes we did!

2009-07-06T20:52:00.000-07:00

Fourth of July weekend was a busy one. My roommate Kaylie and I went to Preston, Idaho with our friend Tim Allen. We had a campfire, played softball, floated a river, drove around in a party bus and had the regular Preston fun!

Friday July 3, 2009

Started the day off by going to work, and it was not fun. I had 8 kids from the age of 4 to 14 and the older kids were the worst. I was by myself, so we couldn’t go outside. Somehow I managed to survive, and I was even willing to show up to work on Monday. 5:00 finally rolled around and Kaylie and Tim picked me up at work. We drove to Preston (about 2 hour drive) and met Jesse at his house. We started the night off with a few games of badminton and eventually made a campfire and had hotdogs. Oh, I forgot to mention that we had this fire surrounded by cows. That was interesting. Haha. It was way fun. We went home, did a few slam-dunkies, shot off some fireworks, and watched some TV. It was a long day to say the least.

Kaylie and I by the campfire

Tim doing a slam-dunkie

Kaylie, Tim and I setting off fireworks

Tim and Jesse with their mastpiece of a firework. Sparklers and bottle rockets.

Saturday July 4, 2009

The best day started with a ward 4^th of July celebration. We went to this big picnic thing and had some really good food, and way too much of it. We ended up playing softball with some guys in Jesse’s ward. When I say guys, this includes ages 14 to 80. It was really fun! I didn’t make a total fool of myself and I got myself a pretty nice tan. After that we went to float the river…words couldn’t even describe the events that took place here. Only Kaylie and I know the true humor behind it. There were a few waterfall type areas, a few times where Kaylie couldn’t stay on the tube, and a lot of sun. After that we went to Logan for the night. We stopped at a few Napoleon Dynamite sights on the way. I was dead tired by this point from the sun, but that didn’t stop us from getting on a party bus. When I say party bus, I mean a school bus with couches and music driving around town. Party bus. It was a pretty good day.

Me at the picnic

Me, Jesse, and Kaylie getting ready to float the river. Jesse is a bit taller then I am.

Sunday July 5, 2009

We went to church, half a sleep, but there. After starting a few rumors in Jesse’s ward, we went back to Jesse’s house and had a really amazing lunch. Shortly after that we left for the burg. Later that night Leanna finally decided to grace us with her presence, and not for very long. Better that then nothing.

Kaylie and I after church.

It was an eventful weekend, and I am so glad I went!

Im Leaving on a Jet Plane

2009-06-16T21:24:00.000-07:00

Center at night (from BYU.edu)

September 1, 2009 I leave on a jet plain headed for Jerusalem and my return will be December 17, 2009. That means I get to experience Thanksgiving, my birthday, and Christmas celebrations in Jerusalem!

Dorms (BYU.edu)

I will be there a full semester and I am ridiculously excited! The BYU center is located on Mount Scopus overlooking Mount of Olives and the Kidron Valley. Each room houses four girls and has a personal balcony with a spectacular view. While the dress code is very strict (only pants or skirts that go to mid-calf, and sleeves that almost go to your elbows) it will all be worth it in the end.

BYU Jerusalem Center (BYU.edu)

Places I will be seeing. Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Mt. Sinai, Ein Gev in Gelilee, Hezekiah’s Tunnel, Red Sea, Dead Sea, archaeological sites, Mt. Scopus (where center is built), Mount of Olives, and many more places!

Classes I will be taking. Hebrew, New and Old Testament, Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Modern Near Eastern Studies, and I will be taking a travel studies class (we basically go on field trips).

Feel free to write me letters!

P.O. BOX 19604

Jerusalem, 91196 ISRAEL

p.s. I will blog with updates. :)

"The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it." W. M. Lewis

2009-06-06T17:08:00.000-07:00

October 2, 2002 I started my bucket list in my journal. Some of them I grew out of considering I made the list when I was 14. This is the updated list and I am publishing it as a sort of contract. Now that people know the list I am obligated to work on it. I have accomplished only a hand-full of the following and I’m going to get on it! Red- Done Blue- Work in progress

Ride in a hot air balloon

Get 4.0 on a semester grade

Go see the Grand Canyon

Go to Yellowstone
Go to Lake Powell
See the Statue of Liberty

Go to the top of the Empire State building
Swim with dolphins

Sell a photo I took
Visit every state (over half-way done)
See the Eiffel Tower

Plant and grow a garden of my own

Learn to surf
Go to a drive-inn movie theater

Go cliff jumping
Ride on a Snowmobile
Go camping for real. This includes a backpack, a hike, great foil dinner, and a tent.
Go Skydiving
Live overseas by myself -- Jerusalem
Learn to love reading

Learn to love to run (run a half marathon)
Teach English in a foreign country
Go to China to see the Great Wall

Ride in a helicopter
Go to a mavs game during the playoffs
Sing a solo on stage
Ride on an elephant
Be in a movie (an extra will do)
Visit all the temples in the US

Rexburg Temple

Go on an African Safari
Learn to snowboard
Sew something I can use (blanket, apron…)
Volunteer for habitat for humanity
Own a Chocolate Lab
Cook a thanksgiving dinner

See the pyramids in Egypt

It is definitely a work in progress, but it will happen! Let me know if there are any other additions that need to be made to my bucket list.

William Joseph or Joseph Williams?

2009-06-04T20:20:00.000-07:00

The fact that he has two first names will no longer bother you once you hear his music. I had the amazing opportunity to see William Joseph in concert. We embraced, and then I asked for his signature. Proof below.

My favorites include: Within (located on my playlist to the right), Piano Fantasy, and Butterflies and Hurricanes (Yes this is the amazing Muse song which William Joseph wrote).

Internal conflict resolved

2009-06-01T16:11:00.001-07:00

Over the past several years I was faced with a serious decision that had to be made. Should I A) live my life without the wonderful world of blogging or B) live in the shadow of my eloquent sister. The decision has obviously been made, considering my new presents on blogspot.com. You will all now have the opportunity to read about pointless experiences in my life, and be forced to love it! Before I close this first, and rather short entry, there are a few things that must be known about me. 1. I don't write. As a result my spelling and grammar have and probably will always have issues. For your benefit and mine, ignore them. :) 2. I currently live in Idaho and my idea of fun has drastically changed. Enjoy the frequent entries about shooting, climbing, bike riding, and swimming in questionable sources of water.

Until next time.