(oh, how i love this movie)

and yes, 

I did meet a man (in high school, actually. not rome), 

that is wonderful, and brilliant,

and we are getting married!

one week.

if you see this boy sometime next week,

(he most likely will not have an alien on his head)


welcome him home.
and tell him that I'll be seeing him soon.

and if you want,
you could also tell him how great I am.
and that I'm way cuter than I was two years ago.

and you also may want to warn him that there is a slight possibility that my grandmother will call him and take him to mcdonald's or in n out.

i'll miss you, boys.

it's been 2 1/2 years.

that i've worked here.
in an after-school club.

and i've loved every minute of it. (mostly).

starting with the minutes working with dear kevin.
kevin, who i could motivate easier than anyone through snacks and candy bars.
kevin (this still remains my number one favorite story), whom i saw sneaking bags of potato chips into his coat sleeves, and i, wanting to prove that i have eyes in the back of my head, walked up behind him and asked, 'what are you doing, kev?' His reply: 'oh! these potato chips must have fallen into my coat sleeves! i'd better put them back. . . '

and to dear, sweet marco, who i've seen grow up (at least a foot and a half)
and who still remains the sweet, quiet, innocent, and hard-working kid.

to donovan, who is the tiniest punk i've ever seen.

to philip, the biggest flirt of an eighth grader.
who, on many occasions, begged to be my boyfriend.

to austin, who, someday, i will recognize by his photo in the sleeve of a brand new best-seller.

to kayson, who i missed the day they told me he couldn't come to mentoring anymore, because of all of his 'extra help' outside of mentoring. the extra help with the teacher he despised. and the teacher who made fun of him, and who never saw him produce an inch of work. i will never forget his face at that moment. i wish they could have realized all of the help he needed was a little care and trust, and once that comes, he will work for hours.

to taylor, who impressed me everyday with his knowledge from wikipedia, french, and video-games.

to michael, who is just michael.
i will never forget that moment when playing catch phrase, and all of us adults, puzzled at a word, he read it and explained it's meaning in an almost dictionary-perfect definition. whenever he speaks, i think instantly of sheldon cooper.

to juan, jesse, and fernando, who are three of the sweetest boys, despite what teachers say.
i'll always be amazed at juan's skateboarding and video-editing skills, jesse's sense of humor and artistic way about him, and fernando and when he is always the first one to help out.

to fransisco, who i lived for the moments when i could hear that click in his brain, and for the moments that he understood what he was doing in math.

to jorge, who i threw off his schedule today, because it was a wednesday, and i only come on tuesdays and thursdays. from his reaction, it was almost as though he had never been so surprised, or confused, in his entire life.

and to amon, who is new. and from curitiba, brazil. and when he spoke portuguese on the telephone, i got goosebumps.

and i'm so grateful that i didn't yell at you today, david.
i was very close.

oh, little boys, i will surely miss you.
i learned so much from you.
i hope you learned from me.
i know you can succeed in whatever you do
and i hope you realize that.

happy birthday

it is my best friend's birthday today.
he is in brazil.
and the greatest person I have ever known

because

1. he makes anyone laugh harder than they have before.
2. he has the cutest smile i've ever seen.
3. he draws me funny pictures in his letters.
4. he loves the Lord, and is the greatest missionary.
5. he sees good in everyone and never talks negatively.
6. he is a gentleman
7. he is really good at magic tricks.
8. he plays ticket to ride and does puzzles with me.
9. he's the best dancer at stake dances and in my kitchen.
10. he makes me want to be a better person everyday.


and he'll be home in less than two months

happy birthday, gregory stevai

see you soon.

(his friends made this on a shirt for him one year)

the future.

Right now, It's pretty hard to live in the present. . . .

When the semester ends in six weeks,
I move home in six weeks,
I graduate soon,
Christmas is in 2 months,
We go on a cruise in 3 months,
And G comes home in 3 months

And when my life consists of me going to school, eating, sleeping, checking the mailbox for letters, making lesson plans, drinking hot chocolate, and reading (books and letters).

It's pretty hard.
But I'm trying.
I promise.



And (thanks to my shingles) I've been really trying not to worry. . . I think I'm doing a better job.
But, mostly I'm just super excited.

The Countdown

I can't wait for halloween

(three months)

I can't wait for thanksgiving

(two months)

I can't wait for christmas

(one month)

I can't wait for our cruise

(one week)











I can't wait until the end of january

Him.

Why is there a boy in my mission prep class that has eyes and glasses just like him?

And why did that kid last night have the same shoes as him?

Dance like him?

And play his guitar like him?

And why does absolutely everything I see or hear remind me of him?

{well, he does have only four months and a little bit, then I'll actually see his shoes, his eyes, his dance moves, him playing his guitar, and everything about him I have missed . . . which is everything}

(and, he is the greatest missionary in all of brazil. i don't know how i got so lucky)

Recollections

I love how

Oranges make me think of Lost,
When I listen to Gorillaz, I just want to play Ticket to Ride,
Listening to 'Brothers on a Hotel Bed' makes me think of dying my hair,
The smell of candles remind me of the Wilson's house,
Exercise balls make me want to pee,
Unshelled peanuts and orange candies remind me of Christmas Eve,
The word 'Lunkers' makes me laugh really hard,
Watching Scrubs makes me want to play tetris 64,
Playing Rock Band reminds me of Dewey's house,
Seeing berries on shrubs makes me think of that one time when Amber and I fed them to Sydnee.
Fireballs remind me of lies, Holly, my dad, and church,
Eminem makes me think of my cousin, Richard, who isn't my cousin anymore,
Classic skating reminds me of fifth grade,
The game 'signs' brings me back to Nikole's slumber party where we played for six consecutive hours,
Sees candies remind me of my grandpa,
Frisbee reminds me of the beach,
Playing racquetball makes me miss Greg,
When I play Balderdash, I wish that Tanner and I still played it at every family gathering,
Rage Against the Machine makes me imagine Greg and Fred working at Shelf Reliance,
Hugs, Tears, and Smiles makes me think of everyone that I love.

And I love when that happens.
And I just smile.
And look forward to the memories that are yet to come.

Just a Tree

(PS This is not the tree in my story. But I love this tree, too)

I know it's just a tree.

It's the tree that Austin walked right over. Between his legs. It was just a newborn then. Too small to see, but not too small to hurt (unfortunately for Austin).

It's the tree that saw us pull a prank on Dave. and the tree that let him rest his hand on it, while he was deciding who to yell at first.

It's the tree that saw the singing boys, the ball of yarn, the cat, and all of the other funny dance pranks.

It's the tree that saw the best (and worst) of door step scenes.

It's the tree that saw a nervous boy's first kiss.

It's the tree that has seen tears.

It's the tree that sees the excitement of reunions of nephews, sisters, parents, and grandparents.

It's the tree that has overheard many many many conversations.

It's the tree that sees a black hyundai elantra full of laundry every couple of weeks.

I'm excited to see that tree.

I know that it's just a tree.

But, It's the tree that welcomes me home.

Blood.

I donated some today.
Some of my blood.
One pint of it actually.
And I loved it.
Weird?
Yeah.

and - I got a free T-Shirt.


Want to hear a funny story?

The first time I went to donate blood was the very beginning of my freshman year. Greg and I saw the stuff and that you could get a free t-shirt. I was so excited and pretty much begged him to donate blood with me. So, we went and blah blah, they asked me questions and took a sample, but I did not have enough iron in my blood to donate. But, Greg was able to donate. So, I left and Greg, who did not really want to give blood in the first place gave blood. But after sitting there for a very long time, they told him that they weren't getting enough blood from him and had to discard the blood that they got from him. and I don't think he'll ever give blood again.

(Then, for his english class, he had to write a story. So, he wrote a story about how he donated blood to get attention from this cute girl, who didn't have enough iron in her blood. I wish that I could read his story so bad)

Also, I saw a kid faint.

Missionaries

This is one of the reasons that I like him so much

We were walking around and there was this kid outside playing guitar and so I went up and said, "hey I like guitar, can I teach you about Jesus?" Just kidding it wasn't exactly like that, but we did a contact with him and they let us in

And this

There was the grandma who was in a wheelchair, I went and shook her hand and she wouldn't let go, then she tried to pull me I think to give me a kiss but I played hard to get and pulled my hand out.

And that's just one email.

He's just great.

And I miss him and how he makes me laugh all the time.

Missing You

Missing someone gets easier every day.
Even though it's one day further from the last time you saw each other,
It's one day closer to the next time you will

It's Raining, It's Pouring.

Katie is right.

When it rains, it pours.


I wish my grandma was not in the hospital anymore and that she was okay

I wish Uncle Rex was doing better and they didn't find that the cancer spread through his lymphnodes

I wish that my grandpa didn't have an anuerism in his stomach

I wish my best friend wasn't leaving in three weeks

I wish I could talk to Greg

I wish I wasn't so stressed out with school

I wish I would stop making mistakes

I wish I wasn't so stressed with money

I wish it would be warm outside

I wish it would stop pouring


But there's always sunshine at the end of a rainstorm, right?

Well, I hope so.