I have an addiction

I am addicted to traveling. I have a very severe form of the travel bug. I spend a good portion of my days thinking about the places I want to travel. My disease has progressed to the point that I no longer just want to I am addicted to traveling. I have a very severe form of the travel bug. I spend a good portion of my days thinking about the places I want to travel. My disease has progressed to the point that I no longer just want to travel within the United States, I want to travel internationally. In addition, I no longer want to just travel to various places, I want to move there. Visiting and living somewhere are totally different things and you get such a better taste for a culture when you are living there.

My addiction has developed over the past two and a half years as I have done more and more traveling. At one point, during my last semester of my undergrad, I was gone 6 weekends in a row. This was mainly for interviewing at grad schools and checking potential schools out. Since then I have gone on a trip of some sort almost every single month, whether it be to go to a BYU away game, go to Mexico with Kaiizen, go to visit my sister and brother-in-law in Oregon, a family vacation, moving to Alaska, etc. I am deeply indebted to my dad and my student loans, which have allowed me the freedom of travel (mostly my dad—don’t worry I don’t abuse the student loan privilege).

My latest obsession is backpacking through Europe. It seems everyone these days is moving to Europe for a semester or backpacking it. I would say I spend 10% of every day thinking about how/when I can get to Europe. Every time I get a letter or tape or pictures from my brother in the Netherlands, I go a little crazy with jealousy. Apparently the Netherlands is quite the melting pot, and he is meeting people from all over the world. Ever since I went to Brazil with Kaiizen, I have wanted to backpack through Europe. I loved staying at a hostel and I loved using the public transportation down there. I just loved everything about going to Brazil. Well except the headache I had from concentrating so hard to understand what people were saying. It is amazing how much you can get across with just hand gestures though.

I also really want to go on more humanitarian aide trips throughout the world. I am very excited to go to central Mexico this summer with YouthLINC, and I am even more excited that Operation Smile might be there on a mission at the same time so I may be able to check that out for a few hours. I very much want to go on an Operation Smile mission sometime in the near future. The thing I like most about humanitarian aide trips is that you get to interact on a very close and personal level with people who are in so much need and yet have so much spirit inside. You don’t just travel to the tourist places, you get right in there with the people and experience a little bit of what their life is like.

I think what it boils down to is I love discovering new and different things. I love learning about different cultures and seeing what is different between theirs and mine, but also what is similar. I love exploring new areas. Even here in Utah, I am always going on drives just to get lost and discover a cool spot that I haven’t been to before.

In my dream world, I would love to move to one place for 6 months (from January to the end of July) and then move back to Utah for 6 months (just in time for football season). However, there are several things that are stopping me from my travel dreams. (A) I’m broke. (B) I’m in school. (C) It is very hard to live somewhere long enough to form attachments to the people and the place, and then pick up and leave. Keeping in touch is very difficult, and a phone call just isn’t the same as personal interaction. I have missed my friends in Alaska and Hawaii a lot. (D) I want to be close to my family. It is hard on me to have my brother so far away and my sister and brother-in-law and nephew in a different state. When Heather and Landon lived in Provo I would go over to their apartment a few times a week and just hang out with them and I loved it. I also want my nephew to grow up knowing his Auntie really well. In addition, it is hard enough on my parents that I don’t live at home. I’m pretty sure they hate it when I move away. (E) The time is rapidly approaching that I am going to have to get a real job and settle down. I will no longer have 4 week Christmas breaks, or spring/fall break, or summer internships. Boo. Except for the money part that comes along with a real job. (F) Eventually I am going to have to get married. Haha let me rephrase that. Eventually I would really like to get married. But it is difficult to meet someone when you are moving around so much.

In short, if you see me and I don’t appear to be paying attention to what is going on around me, I am probably thinking about travel or football.

Some people blog about their political opinions, I blog about this...

I fell asleep in the bathroom at the Institute the other day. I was just chilling there with my elbows on my knees and my head in my hand and the next thing I knew I was waking up because the automatic motion-sensing light had turned off. I couldn't have been out for more than 5, maybe 10 minutes max though. Somehow I can fall asleep in a bathroom and yet it takes me hours to fall asleep in my bed. Maybe my bed is too comfortable.

Sisterly Memories

Since my sister asked me to update my blog, I thought I would post a memory of us. The first memory to pop into my head was, of course, our choreographed dances on the trampoline to “Kiss From A Rose” by Seal, in the hopes that the neighbor boy would see us and fall in love.

The next memory I thought of was when she and I were riding our bikes past said neighbor boy’s house. Heather turned to wave at him and ran smack into the back of a parked van. The boy came running over and asked if she was okay and Heather responded with, “Ya, I think it is okay” as she patted her bike. Oh man, I can’t help but laugh hysterically at the memory of it.

The other memory that immediately popped into my mind was the drive home from Thanksgiving in Idaho in 2004. It had snowed a lot 2 days before we were supposed to drive home, but on the day of the drive the roads were dry and clear. Well I was driving my Jeep home and my sister and brother were with me. My parents were about 10 minutes behind us in my dad’s truck. We were driving along, everything was fine and dandy. The speed limit was 75 mph, so I was going about 80 mph. About an hour into the drive, we came around a corner and I saw snow on the road just ahead of us, but only on the fast lane. I started to change lanes and braked to slow down a little. Bad decision. We hit the snow when I was still braking and my tires were still angled to change lanes. We started spinning in the middle of the freeway. Luckily the car behind us was far enough behind that it didn’t hit us. We did probably 3 donuts on our side of the freeway, then started spinning towards the barrow pit, which mind you is shaped like a V for drainage purposes and also to prevent cars from going onto the opposite side of the freeway. So we’re spinning along and get into the barrow pit and I can feel the car start to tilt like we are going to roll over. Miraculously, the car didn’t roll and I swear it is because Heather was in the car and the blessing carried over to the rest of us. We did a couple more donuts and stopped maybe 4 or 5 feet away from the oncoming traffic. Surprisingly, all of us kids were very calm at this point—no one was freaking out or hyperventilating or anything. Our first thought was, “We gotta get out of here before Mom and Dad drive by.” I put the Jeep into 4 Lo and we started trying to drive out onto the freeway in the direction that we had been going, but we were just sliding back down into the barrow pit. My brother was going to get out and push, but he couldn’t find his shoes so he was going to go out there bare foot. I can’t remember if he actually did, but I don’t think so. Anyway, we ended up getting out onto the freeway going the opposite direction as we came. Literally about 20-30 seconds later we see my parents drive past on the other side of the freeway. About 20 seconds later we get a call from them saying, “We saw some tire tracks from someone who drove off the side of the road, so be sure to slow down and be careful.” They thought that we were behind them and they didn’t notice us on the other side of the road! Little did they know… Then I started freaking out and made Heather drive the rest of the way home. THE END.

Crazy times

The other day I paid $1.68 for gas! And I've seen places where gas is as low as $1.54!

Contrast this to this past summer, where I was paying over $5.00 for gas. By the time I moved home, I was paying about $5.40. Granted that was the cost for diesel, but it is still amazing to me how much can change in 4 months!

Belated Gratitude List (Complete Version)

As per Marissa's Thanksgiving challenge, I've created my own list of 100 things I'm grateful for (albeit it somewhat late). Some of the things may seem kind of silly, but I think life is the sum of all the small things that bring you joy! Some of them are cheesy, but they are probably the ones that I am most grateful for.

1. The Savior
2. Scriptures.
3. Temples. I didn’t realize how much I valued being able to go to the temple anytime I wanted until I moved to Alaska for the summer and the temple was 7 hours away. I’m very grateful that I live so close to so many temples.
4. Joseph Smith
5. Good leaders and examples
6. Not having to worry about whether I have money for food every day.
7. Tender mercies
8. Good friends
9. BYU football
10. 4 seasons. I love living in Utah and getting to enjoy fall, spring, summer and winter. Anytime the seasons change I get so excited and feel full of life and renewed!
11. New friends. I love making new friends!!
12. Old friends. I Heart My Old Friends. I’ve been so blessed to meet so many amazing people and form great friendships. If you don’t live near me or we aren’t able to hang out anymore, I probably miss you and wish we could get together. Call me!
13. Agency
14. Books. I love to read. Especially books where there are explosions and people falling in love all in the same story—violent love stories.
15. Blankets. Nothing better than curling up in a blanket and watching snow fall or being all tucked in bed with warm blankets in the winter time.
16. Good music. My current favorite songs: Video by Indie Arie, How Great Thou Art by MoTab, If I Were A Boy by Beyonce, and Chicken Fried by Zac Brown Band.
17. Nature. Being outside and hiking around and being away from the hustle and bustle of a city is one of my absolute favorite things to do. I am definitely not a city girl. Most of the times that I can remember where I feel most at peace is when I’m way up in the mountains seeing God’s creation.
18. Laughter. I’m grateful for people who bring laughter into my life.
19. Good health. I’m in the medical field and so I see lots of people who don’t enjoy good health and it makes me grateful that my health problems are very minimal.
20. Sunsets
21. Opportunities to grow. I can’t explain this well, but it is one of the things I am most grateful for in the world.
22. Frequent flyer miles. Thank you Daddy. I wouldn’t have been able to do half of the things I’ve done without my dad’s generosity with his frequent flyer miles.
23. Being single. It isn’t that I don’t want to get married, but I am very grateful for the experiences I’ve been able to have and the people I’ve been able to meet because I am still single.
24. Memories. I’m still so young and yet have a lifetime of fantastic memories already.
25. Diversity. I’m grateful that I have the opportunity to meet and talk with so many different types of people. I love meeting people who are different than me.
26. James McAvoy. Ladies, if you don’t know who he is you are missing out. Guys, he has a lot to teach you—watch the last 5 minutes of Penelope.
27. Bronco Mendenhall. If I had a Bronco is My Hero shirt it would be one of my most cherished possessions.
28. Mom
29. Dad
30. Sean
31.Heather
32. Landon
33. Dallin
34. a reliable car that can go anywhere (i.e. off-roads)
35. the Joseph Smith movie and my proximity to a theater that shows it—I seriously love that show and go see it at least once a month.
36. Bones. Best TV show ever. Enough said.
37. America.
38. Experiences at BYU. Although I hated BYU at first, I had some amazing experiences during my 3 years there and I feel like I am a better person because I went there.
39. Being able to live in Alaska for the summer. One of the highlights of my life. I absolutely loved it there. There are not enough positive adjectives to describe how awesome living in Fairbanks was.
40. Kaiizen. I’ve met some great friends and experienced some wonderful things because of Kaiizen. Thanks Josh!
41. Being able to live in Hawaii. Living in Hawaii was way different and better than people would think. Everyone always dreams of living there, but living there and vacationing there is very different. I lived in a trash hole, had a $650 car, had mildew growing in my microwave, ants in my cereal (which I ate anyway), mice poop on my food boxes, etc. AND I LOVED IT! I learned a lot about myself out there and how it really doesn’t matter what car I drive, how nice my house is, etc. but the important thing is the having friends and being grateful for what you do have.
42. speeches.byu.edu. This is a great website. It has enriched my life.
43. BYU basketball. “4 coach!”—never gets old.
44. PT school. I am very blessed to be able to get an additional degree and have a career that is so ideal.
45. Classmates at the U. I have some awesome people in my class and I really like being around them. Most the time.
46. Zupa’s, Chipotle, PF Changs, Legend’s Grill, Quiznos. All a big part of my life.
47. Jamba Juice. It gets its own category.
48. Pretty stress-free life. I was watching Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and the family had 5 out of 6 children who were autistic and the husband worked 2 jobs and their home had just been foreclosed and they had to worry about living on the streets with 6 children, 5 of whom are autistic. Ya-- my life isn’t that hard or stressful at all.
49. Institute.
50. Great living situation. I live in a very nice house, have my own bedroom, awesome roommates, and I pay less than I did in Provo.
51. Great ward. I love the girls in my Relief Society. I was very worried moving back to SLC and what kind of ward I would have, but I’ve made some good friends.
52. Finding the Enclave.
53. Sports. I love watching and playing sports—football, basketball, tennis, soccer, etc etc etc
54. Growing up with the Gospel. I am grateful to my parents for the decisions and sacrifices they made so that I was raised with Gospel teachings.
55. Scarves. They make me happy. If you ever feel like buying me something, a scarf is a good way to go.
56. Food gift cards. Also a good bet if you are trying to think of the perfect present for me.
57. President Hinckley. I am most especially grateful for his example of how marriage should be.
58. Elder Wirthlin. I will miss his talks the most. His conference talks were always the best. I will always be grateful for the lessons I learned from his talk on kindness, not only from the words in the talk but from the situation as he gave the talk.
59. Basic amenities like flushing toilets, hot water heaters, etc. I got sick of putting my toilet paper in a trash basket in Brazil... it is just gross.
60. Quinn Gooch's blog. www.deepshadesofblue.com
61. Cool things to do in SLC. Although I still miss living in Provo, I love all the things there are to do up here, such as the Opera, Body Worlds, Utah Jazz games, jazz festivals, etc.
62. The Cougarettes. I love watching their dances.
63. Photographs. I wouldn't remember most of my childhood if it weren't for pictures. I love that photographs make it easier to stay connected with people. For example, my brother sends us pictures from the Netherlands and it helps us to know what is going on with him and what his life is like.
64. Historical figures that fought an uphill battle for things they believed in.
65. The Trigon commercials. (1, 2, 3).
66. Late night chats with friends/roommates ("couch talk").
67. CHRISTMAS!!
68. The Food Network.
69. Lake Powell. The happiest place on Earth.
70. People who comment on blogs.
71. Scrapbooks and a mother who scrapbooked 18 years of your life.
72. North and South. This show has brought much happiness into my life.
73. Not moving while growing up. I lived in the same house until I turned 18 and moved out and I'm very grateful that I had that constancy in my life and had "roots".
74. I'm kinda grateful for my parent's new house just cuz it is so cool... still miss the old one though.
75. Peyton Manning commercials.
76. Jon Schmidt. I love piano music.
77. Grilled cheese! Toasty! Brussel Sprouts!
78. Inside Jokes.
79. LDS fiction. Love it. Not even gonna pretend I don't. Especially when there's a love story.
80. The swing in front of 218. Good memories there.
81. People who are smarter than I am and who teach me things without making me feel inferior.
82. Worthy priesthood holders who I know I can go to for a blessing when I need it.
83. Knowing how to cook. Thanks Mom (and Rachael Ray)!
84. Bumping into old friends in random places and picking up right where we left off!
85. General Conference.
86. Candles.
87. Guys that wear cologne.
88. Can I have your number?
89. Inspirational sayings.
90. The Pioneers.
91. Gchat.
92. Spontaneity.
93. Knowing there is someone out there that can understand my anguish. (1, 2)
94. Earplugs. Seriously. They were a brilliant invention.
95. When you have those "It's a small world" moments.
96. My cadaver lab experiences. Some awesome stories there.
97. Hunting.
98. My dog.
99. Intramural soccer and midnight soccer!
100. Marissa for her challenge. I spend my days trying to think of things I'm grateful for.

Memories...

I am super excited to go back down to Baja Mexico for the Kaiizen Christmas trip, and thinking about it reminds me of my memory for today. It comes from my first Kaiizen trip in July of 2007. It was the last day of being in Mexico (Saturday) and we had finished up everything we had planned at the orphanage, so all of the volunteers went to either Ensenada or the beach. The girls in my car all decided that we wanted to go to the beach. Even though it was July, the water was FREEZING and so it was just me and Janel that got into the water.

We were having a blast in the waves and were attempting to boogie board. A wave washed over me and I felt this stinging on my left arm and I looked down just in time to see a jellyfish come unwrapped from my arm. My arm immediately started hurting and so I hollered to Janel and we hustled out of the water. We ran back to the girls from our car and begged for someone who had to pee. Of course, no one had to, and Janel had just peed in the ocean J (You’re welcome Janel). Anyway, we couldn’t find anybody and so I think Janel offered to try to pee on my arm even though she just went. We were running across the sand to the bathrooms, which p.s. were locked, and we ran into Jessie and she was like “Ya sure, I’ll pee on you. I can just do it behind a car.”

My arm was starting to hurt/sting/tingle pretty bad by now. I can’t remember exactly how it happened, but one of the Mexicans selling stuff along the beach heard about my dilemma and offered some of the vinegar from his pickles or something. So the story ends with me not having to be peed on. But thanks to all those who were willing to help out a friend!

Rivalry

So I randomly saw this picture on my facebook homepage, and it made me laugh out loud. Despite the fact that it is dissing my beloved Cougars, I thought it was pretty clever and thought I'd share. Gotta love being a part of the #3 rivalry in the country. Go Cougs!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/stewart_mandel/11/11/power.rankings1/index.html?eref=T1

Just as a reminder...