My flight home was a good one. I had a layover in Las Vegas, and per tradition I ate at Burger King there. My next flight had a stop in Nashville, so that was cool since I've never been there before. Well, I still haven't actually been there since I never got off the plane, but I thought it was neat.
Here's my view out the window and my first (and, so far, only) glimpse of Nashville :)
On the flight from Nashville to Orlando I sat next to a nice lady from the Phoenix area. I told her I was going to BYU and she guessed I was LDS. We had a good conversation, and I got to talk to her a little about the Church, and school, and what I wanted to do with my life. She wondered if I were going to go on a mission, and things like that. She had a lot of interesting things to say (she worked for Southwest). It's probably the first time that I've had a real conversation with someone on a plane, since I usually keep to myself. It was nice. I like meeting new people and hearing what's in their head. Maybe I should talk to strangers more. :)
I landed in Orlando later that evening. We stopped at the McDonald's drive thru on the way home. Krista Johnson was working there and liked the fact that she was the first person besides my mom to see me. Sara was at EFY for the week, so I didn't get to see her until Saturday. Dad came home from work a little after I got home, and it was good to see him and Mom after so long.
I landed in Orlando later that evening. We stopped at the McDonald's drive thru on the way home. Krista Johnson was working there and liked the fact that she was the first person besides my mom to see me. Sara was at EFY for the week, so I didn't get to see her until Saturday. Dad came home from work a little after I got home, and it was good to see him and Mom after so long.
The next morning there was a beach group at Cocoa beach with a bunch of families from church. Of course, I slept in so we were a little late, but it was so good to go to the beach again! I've missed that so much. I'm trying to figure out what it is that makes me love it so much. The sand? The sun? The water? The friends? The sea breeze? Maybe it's all of that, and a little bit of something intangible. Regardless, I love it.
Mom and me
Every time I come home I'm amazed at how quickly I get used to it. Obviously, there are a lot of changes that happen while I'm gone, and those things weird me out a little bit because I realize how fast life is going. (I'm going to be a junior in college this year... weird, huh?!) And I'm surprised how quickly I adapt back to the humidity, too. Granted, whenever I spend a lot of time outside doing something active, I start dripping sweat like there's no tomorrow, but I don't feel like I'm drowning in the humidity anymore.
Saturday was a lazy day around the house. I had really forgotten what it was like to have free time, since I'd been working nonstop all day, all summer, up until I got home. I don't really know what to do with myself. You mean I have to come up with things to do on my own? Saturday night Dad was fixing the screen enclosure for our back porch, and I was out there holding a light for him after it got dark. I was out there for about 20-30 minutes wearing shorts and had forgotten about the mosquitoes... we'll they didn't forget about me. My legs looked like this the next day, and for weeks after:
That night my mom's aunt, Diana, and 16 year-old cousin, Christina, flew into town from Maryland. That night, Christina, Sara, and I went to see Eclipse at the movie theater. I had been planning on waiting to go until after I'd finished re-reading the book, but I hadn't finished yet. It was so good! The movies just keep getting better. I thought Edward was a lot more good-looking, everyone's acting was better, and Jacob, of course, was just as Jacob-y as ever. Love!
My aunt and cousin flew home on Saturday morning. My dad informed me that I would be giving a talk in church the next day. Great, Dad, thanks for the warning... (he'd kind of hinted at it a week before, but never told me for sure.) So, I wrote my talk Saturday night about building our testimonies. It turned out well. I thought I'd planned out plenty to talk on, but on Sunday when I got up to speak, I was part way through giving it and realized that I was running out of material, so I just ended it naturally and it was a good length. I mentioned how I've never given a talk in any of my BYU wards, but it seems every time I come home I give one. Brother Lopez was conducting and said he didn't know of anyone else who went on vacation and gave a talk. It is really kinda funny when you think about it.
Over the next couple of days I got into a really bad sleeping schedule, where I stay up until 2 or 3 in the morning (doing nothing, I might add) and then I don't wake up until 1 or 2 in the afternoon, sometimes later. Yikes! I guess it has something to do with the free time problem. I just don't have motivation to get up, because there's nothing to do.
I did try to to roller blading one day, but I mistakenly went in the middle of the day when the sun was it's hottest, so I practically died in the heat. It was nice to roller blade again, though, I haven't done that in a while. But, I don't think I'll be doing it again anytime soon, unless it's in the dark.
Sara was at band camp for most of the week, but she was done at 4pm, just as I was getting ready to start my day. ;) I didn't really do much that week. We did do some fun stuff though: we did a bit of shopping and Mom made a skirt for me that's awesome. We used the pool a lot this week. We got in almost every night, so that was nice. We should use our pool more often.
Mom and I also cleaned the garage (without telling Dad) and took a lot of junk to Goodwill. That was a good feeling. The garage is so clean and organized now. Now, if only it would stay that way.
Friday morning, Mom and I hit up Cocoa beach with Lorraine, Keriann, and Camden. (Sara and Clay both stayed home sleeping-- such bums!) It was a nice day. It was really windy, though, and the waves were a little scary. We didn't go out too far for fear of them. They looked like great surfing waves, but not great swimming waves. We took a bag of really great shells from Siesta Key and threw them all over the beach to surprise people walking along. It was fun to watch them get all excited when they would find one.
That night I had a pool party for a bunch of my friends, mostly youth from the ward. I was hoping that a lot of people would come because I think that's what really makes a party fun. Happily, tons of kids showed up and it was great to get to see and spend time with all of them!
A funny thought occurred to me at the party. Some of the younger youth are kids that I used to babysit just a few years ago, and now they are all grown up and coming to my pool parties like regular friends! I reminded one of them of this and he started talking about the fun things we used to do when I would come babysit. I'm glad he's not that embarrassed about it!
Sadly, I didn't take any pictures that night. Lame, huh?
Saturday I spent the afternoon finishing up re-reading Eclipse. It was better than I remember, and I'd forgotten a lot of it. And I didn't realize how different it was from the movie. Not too drastically, but there were a lot of details left out of the movie, understandably, and they tweaked a lot of the scenes in some little and big ways, but none of it really bothers me. Now I want to re-read Breaking Dawn, too.
That afternoon, I went to dinner with my friend Amanda who was in town with her boyfriend. It's always nice to see her, since I'm away for most of the year. Luckily, she comes to visit Orlando often, so I usually get to see her when I come home.
Saturday night was a youth dance for our stake, so I decided to tag along and hang out with my younger friends in the ward. After all, my dad is the DJ, so I'm allowed to visit, right? :) It was so much fun. BYU doesn't do very many dances, and they just aren't as fun anyway. Our stake's dances are the best!
Sunday at church was nice, yet again. I keep running into people that I haven't gotten to talk to yet, and it's great to see them all. I'm definitely going to miss them a lot when I go back to Utah. Later that day we found out there is a water boil alert in effect for a couple days. It's really annoying because boiled water doesn't cool down very fast, even in the fridge, so we don't have cold water to drink yet. Luckily, we had some water bottles in the fridge already, so we rationed those and survived. The next day we found out that the water boil didn't apply to our neighborhood. Darn it all.
Monday was a pretty boring day. I'm sure I slept in and spent the day lounging around the house.
That night I watched my favorite movie ever: Nacho Libre! "Do you not realize I have had diarrhea since Easters?"
Wednesday afternoon we went to Lorraine's house for dinner. Lorraine has lots of questions to ask about college since Clay is coming to BYU in the fall. We spent most of the afternoon in the pool talking about misc college stuff. I mostly played with Camden-- boy, do I love that kid! Dinner was delicious, as is usual at Lorraine's. That night we watched "What Would You Do?" and "Wipeout" (Camden knew the episode's name: "Screw You, Banana"-- haha). I did a US Map puzzle with Camden that was slightly challenging. Camden is amazing at puzzles. He puts me to shame. :)
Thursday I spent most of the day re-reading Breaking Dawn. I'd completely forgotten most of the plot, so it's kind of like reading it for the first time again! It's very good, and well-thought out. I remember now why I loved the series so much!
Friday morning, we went to the beach with the Machado family, minus Danielle. It was a lovely day at the beach and a fun time with the Machados. It was great to get to talk to Lela, who will also be out at BYU this fall! Check out my web album for pictures!
Saturday was a lazy day around the house. I had really forgotten what it was like to have free time, since I'd been working nonstop all day, all summer, up until I got home. I don't really know what to do with myself. You mean I have to come up with things to do on my own? Saturday night Dad was fixing the screen enclosure for our back porch, and I was out there holding a light for him after it got dark. I was out there for about 20-30 minutes wearing shorts and had forgotten about the mosquitoes... we'll they didn't forget about me. My legs looked like this the next day, and for weeks after:
It really looked like the chicken pox.
Thankfully, none of those mosquitoes were carrying the West Nile virus...
Sunday was great. I love our ward so much. I'm so glad that all the people I love stay in the ward so that I get to see them when I come home. Whenever I come back, I always realize how many people there were that I'd missed. I hope to come back and live in this ward after college so that I can stay friends with all the great people and families who live here.
Monday I babysat Will and Caroline, and Ella from the ward. They are all such cute kids, and I can't believe how fast they are growing up!
That night my mom's aunt, Diana, and 16 year-old cousin, Christina, flew into town from Maryland. That night, Christina, Sara, and I went to see Eclipse at the movie theater. I had been planning on waiting to go until after I'd finished re-reading the book, but I hadn't finished yet. It was so good! The movies just keep getting better. I thought Edward was a lot more good-looking, everyone's acting was better, and Jacob, of course, was just as Jacob-y as ever. Love!
Over last week my mom and I have gone back and watched Twilight and New Moon, too. I like them a lot better than I remember. Oh, and if you haven't listened to the commentary on Twilight, it's pretty much the funniest thing ever. Robert Pattinson spends the whole time making fun of himself, and it's hilarious! Besides, it's fun to listen to his English accent.
The next day we had a purse party for a company called 31. They have some really cute purses! Sadly, very few people came, so it wasn't as fun as it could have been, but there was a lot of great food to eat! That's one of my favorite parts of parties. :)
Wednesday we went to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Islands of Adventure with our aunt and cousin. It was so cool! We got Lela Machado, who works there, to buy us discounted tickets, so that was great! We did a bit of the other stuff in the park at first, because we were hoping that the crowds in Hogsmeade would die down. Finally, we just gave in and went. The Hogwarts castle had been teasing us all day, drawing us in.
The next day we went with our aunt and cousin to Siesta Key, our favorite beach spot. It's such a pretty place!! We stayed there overnight in this really cute hotel room that was like a 5 minute walk to the beach. So fun! Check out my web album for pictures!Check out the web album for pictures from Islands of Adventure and Harry Potter World:
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| Siesta Key with Diana and Christina |
My aunt and cousin flew home on Saturday morning. My dad informed me that I would be giving a talk in church the next day. Great, Dad, thanks for the warning... (he'd kind of hinted at it a week before, but never told me for sure.) So, I wrote my talk Saturday night about building our testimonies. It turned out well. I thought I'd planned out plenty to talk on, but on Sunday when I got up to speak, I was part way through giving it and realized that I was running out of material, so I just ended it naturally and it was a good length. I mentioned how I've never given a talk in any of my BYU wards, but it seems every time I come home I give one. Brother Lopez was conducting and said he didn't know of anyone else who went on vacation and gave a talk. It is really kinda funny when you think about it.
Over the next couple of days I got into a really bad sleeping schedule, where I stay up until 2 or 3 in the morning (doing nothing, I might add) and then I don't wake up until 1 or 2 in the afternoon, sometimes later. Yikes! I guess it has something to do with the free time problem. I just don't have motivation to get up, because there's nothing to do.
I did try to to roller blading one day, but I mistakenly went in the middle of the day when the sun was it's hottest, so I practically died in the heat. It was nice to roller blade again, though, I haven't done that in a while. But, I don't think I'll be doing it again anytime soon, unless it's in the dark.
Sara was at band camp for most of the week, but she was done at 4pm, just as I was getting ready to start my day. ;) I didn't really do much that week. We did do some fun stuff though: we did a bit of shopping and Mom made a skirt for me that's awesome. We used the pool a lot this week. We got in almost every night, so that was nice. We should use our pool more often.
Mom and I also cleaned the garage (without telling Dad) and took a lot of junk to Goodwill. That was a good feeling. The garage is so clean and organized now. Now, if only it would stay that way.
Friday morning, Mom and I hit up Cocoa beach with Lorraine, Keriann, and Camden. (Sara and Clay both stayed home sleeping-- such bums!) It was a nice day. It was really windy, though, and the waves were a little scary. We didn't go out too far for fear of them. They looked like great surfing waves, but not great swimming waves. We took a bag of really great shells from Siesta Key and threw them all over the beach to surprise people walking along. It was fun to watch them get all excited when they would find one.
That night I had a pool party for a bunch of my friends, mostly youth from the ward. I was hoping that a lot of people would come because I think that's what really makes a party fun. Happily, tons of kids showed up and it was great to get to see and spend time with all of them!
A funny thought occurred to me at the party. Some of the younger youth are kids that I used to babysit just a few years ago, and now they are all grown up and coming to my pool parties like regular friends! I reminded one of them of this and he started talking about the fun things we used to do when I would come babysit. I'm glad he's not that embarrassed about it!
Sadly, I didn't take any pictures that night. Lame, huh?
Saturday I spent the afternoon finishing up re-reading Eclipse. It was better than I remember, and I'd forgotten a lot of it. And I didn't realize how different it was from the movie. Not too drastically, but there were a lot of details left out of the movie, understandably, and they tweaked a lot of the scenes in some little and big ways, but none of it really bothers me. Now I want to re-read Breaking Dawn, too.
That afternoon, I went to dinner with my friend Amanda who was in town with her boyfriend. It's always nice to see her, since I'm away for most of the year. Luckily, she comes to visit Orlando often, so I usually get to see her when I come home.
Saturday night was a youth dance for our stake, so I decided to tag along and hang out with my younger friends in the ward. After all, my dad is the DJ, so I'm allowed to visit, right? :) It was so much fun. BYU doesn't do very many dances, and they just aren't as fun anyway. Our stake's dances are the best!
Sara and Clay dancing
Sarah's super-long hair!
Savannah's nerd glasses
Keriann and Sara
Sunday at church was nice, yet again. I keep running into people that I haven't gotten to talk to yet, and it's great to see them all. I'm definitely going to miss them a lot when I go back to Utah. Later that day we found out there is a water boil alert in effect for a couple days. It's really annoying because boiled water doesn't cool down very fast, even in the fridge, so we don't have cold water to drink yet. Luckily, we had some water bottles in the fridge already, so we rationed those and survived. The next day we found out that the water boil didn't apply to our neighborhood. Darn it all.
Monday was a pretty boring day. I'm sure I slept in and spent the day lounging around the house.
Tuesday, I went to IKEA with Mom and had so much fun! What a cool place! There was so much I wanted to get, and I kept telling my mom I needed to get married so I could buy a bunch of the stuff for a new house. I got a few things for my apartment, but I couldn't get much because I wouldn't have been able to get it all home in my suitcases! I loved the 2 hotdogs, chips, and soda for $2!
That night I watched my favorite movie ever: Nacho Libre! "Do you not realize I have had diarrhea since Easters?"
Wednesday afternoon we went to Lorraine's house for dinner. Lorraine has lots of questions to ask about college since Clay is coming to BYU in the fall. We spent most of the afternoon in the pool talking about misc college stuff. I mostly played with Camden-- boy, do I love that kid! Dinner was delicious, as is usual at Lorraine's. That night we watched "What Would You Do?" and "Wipeout" (Camden knew the episode's name: "Screw You, Banana"-- haha). I did a US Map puzzle with Camden that was slightly challenging. Camden is amazing at puzzles. He puts me to shame. :)
Thursday I spent most of the day re-reading Breaking Dawn. I'd completely forgotten most of the plot, so it's kind of like reading it for the first time again! It's very good, and well-thought out. I remember now why I loved the series so much!
Friday morning, we went to the beach with the Machado family, minus Danielle. It was a lovely day at the beach and a fun time with the Machados. It was great to get to talk to Lela, who will also be out at BYU this fall! Check out my web album for pictures!
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| Cocoa Beach with Machados |
Saturday I went bargain shopping with Mom for most of the day. We went to garage sales in the morning and we found one really great one that had a bunch of cute clothes in my size, so I got a lot and they were only 25 cents each! Then we went to Old Navy and stumbled across their half-off clearance sale! I got a ton MORE clothes there. Happy, happy, happy! Then Mom and I went coupon shopping at Target and Publix. I love bargain shopping!
Sunday at church was good. It was Fast Sunday, and testimony meeting was pretty good, though a little more... quiet... than a student ward. :) We had the sister missionaries over for dinner, which was delicious. There was a HUGE thunderstorm during dinner and it was awesome! That night Mom finished sewing up some awesome skirts that she was making for me. They all turned out so cute! I love them! That night I was also practicing packing everything into my suitcases. It was definitely an ordeal, even for just practicing.
Monday, I spent the morning purchasing my all-sports pass with Clay. He was having difficulties with the website, but eventually got it all sorted out. I'm so excited! I was going to go see Eclipse with Kim, but she had a job interview so it didn't work out.
That afternoon we left for family vacation to Siesta Key around 6. We got there a couple hours later and settled into our hotel room, and went out to walk on the very dark beach. The next day we did food shopping in the morning and evne bough some new floats to use at the beach. Publix was awesome and inflated them for us for free! Then we finally went to the beach! We spent most of the rest of the day there, and I took a nap in the late afternoon. There was a lightning storm way out at sea around dusk, but we still went into the water. Then we went out to eat at McDonald's. The next morning we all slept in late, checked out of the hotel, and then went to the beach again. Luckily, I hardly even got burned during our whole stay, and the beach was so nice the whole time (except for the water being a little too warm). We stayed out as long as possible, then got dinner (Pizza Hut and Cold Stone-yum!) and headed home. We picked up Rosie who had been staying with the Martinez family, then went to our house.
Check out my web album for pictures!
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| Siesta Key Vacation |
My flight was at noon, and I got to the airport around 10. I have to say that I just LOVE Sky Cap curbside check-in! It's sooo much easier and faster. And the line through security was unusually fast. Very happy! My flight was also shorter than I expected. I got to switch planes in Denver, so that's another airport I can add to my list! :) I got into Salt Lake around 4:20 and was able to get my baggage in good time to catch a 5 o'clock shuttle ride back to Provo. It was a long, quite drive with a quiet driver and another passenger who read the whole drive. Ah, well. I don't like talking much anyway.
First (and only) view of Denver.
It was pretty sad to get back to Utah. I remember thinking on the shuttle ride that I was suck here now. I would be here until Christmas. My apartment was lonely, messy, and smelled weird. I'd really liked to have stayed later in Florida, but I needed to get back to work so I could start making some money. I'll probably get over my homesickness fast, at least I hope so, since I do have a lot of friends here. I really miss everything at home, though, like the beach, my dog, and our house, and especially my family. But, the fall semester is coming on fast and I have lots to look forward to.
