Go, Nad, Go!

MTC Letter #4 - November 22nd, 2011

2011-11-25T17:43:00.000-08:00

Okay, so in honor of everyone who loves to hear about me wanting to die because I accidentally start laughing and can't stop (seriously trying to be better) - So, my district leader calls on me to say the prayer before class (we're with our Taiwanese teacher, Sister Fan, who I adore) and I started praying, and I kept stumbling over my words and messing this sentence up, so I started laughing a tiny bit, like, "geez", but then I started laughing a ton and then I couldn't finish the dang prayer because I couldn't speak, I was laughing too hard. After nudging Sister Winters, she finally took one for the team and finished my prayer for me. It was terrible. After the prayer, Sister Fan asked me, "Does speaking Chinese make you laugh?' I was like "Not usually!" (unless we're singing a fast hymn - talk about stumbling over words). And Elder Stallings said, "I've never met someone who couldn't finish their prayer because they were laughing too hard." Then Sister Fan started tellnig us about how on her mission, they taught someone who would always laugh when they taught her and then she told us that she had a mental disability. Thanks a lot, Sister Fan. Then she was telling us about how one time on her mission (she served in Taichung, Taiwan), they were praying with an old woman, who was a convert, who used to be Buddhist, and the way she was praying and the things she was saying sounded like traditional Buddhist chants or something. Sister Fan said she was trying so hard not to laugh, but because her companion couldn't speak teh language fluently, she didn't pick up on it at all. That's probably why Heavenly Father called me to learn such a hard language so that I won't be able to understand 80% of what goes on, especially the funny/awkward moments.

Also, sometimes when we learn a new grammar principle, Sister Fan divides sisters vs. elders and whoever can extend the most commitments wins. We all love this game, and it usually ends up with us extending commitments like, "Will you be willing to prepare for the second coming?" and other things that investigators definitely do not need to commit to.

This week when Sister Winters and I practiced teaching natives in TRC, the first women were from China and Taiwan, and they were so nice, but one of them talked so fast, I thought I was going to die. The second man we talked to was wearing a Beijing Olympics shirt and had one of those mountain-man hats, with the long racoon tail hanging down. I instantly liked him and I liked him even more once he started talking because he talked much slower than the other women. Listening to people talk always stresses me out, especially when you think you understand what they are saying and it turns out that they actually said something completely different. Our new favorite thing is to psyche the elders out, by acting freaked out when we leave a teaching appointment, whispering towards them, "That was a toughie! Goood luck." Actually, we did that in all seriousness and then realized that we liked the elders' reactions much, that we might as well keep it up. Man, I sound like the worst district member/sister missionary ever. I really am nice to them and Sister Winters and I are always trying to make sure they're all feeling okay and not too stressed out.

Oh, and since I mentioned cleaning last week, I'll mention cleaning again. This week, we had to clean the drinking fountains with poision. Seriously, it was this bright red stuff that kills AIDS, causes eye corrision if it contacts your eyes, and if it gets on your skin, you have to run your skin under water for 15-20 minutes. Yeah. Told you our cleaning jobs are no walk in the park.

Sister Winters is ultra talented and is constantly getting roped into doing musical numbers with people in our zone. This week, she played violin with a flutist and this elder in our zone accompanied them. This elder plays piano like a dream (apparently he got accepted to Juliard), but also a total diva about his piano pieces. They were done practicing, and the girls were like, "yeah, I feel good about this piece" and then that elder was like, "Um... my solos are just way too slow and boring. Seriously. I can't even stand it. I can't handle it." So then he cut all his slow solos out of the piece. Diva alert.

And this week, 2 of my favorite elders to eaves drop on and talk to (they're a total dream-team, I'll tell more about them later) were standing by this window and they looked all sad and depressed, so Sister Winters asked them why they looked so sad, and Elder Soule (he talks and acts really dramatically) was like, "We're sooo stressed out! Our investigator was high the last time we taught her!"

me: "Like pretending to be high?"

S: "No, she really was! She had just had a surgery and fell asleep twice during our lesson! She doesn't even remember what we taught her and we don't know what to teach her next!"

His comp, Elder M: "If this was a real investigator, we would've dropped her weeks ago!"

S: "Noo! Don't say that!! We looove Sister Wu! We're just stressed out!!"

So funny.

Okay, also, last thing - this week I watched some Joseph Smith restoration movie and it totally reinvigorated my testimony of the gospel and Joseph Smith. Lately, I feel stressed about the hardness of a mission, and how tired I always am, but watching that made me remember how much Joseph Smioth and the early saints did for the gospel, and that I can definitely do this little year and a half to share the gospel with others after so many have done so much for me to have the gospel. The gospel makes more and more sense to me all the time. Love it.

Sorry so rushed, always.

Love you all so, so much.

Love,

Natalie

MTC Letter #3 - November 15th, 2011

2011-11-15T11:23:00.000-08:00

Okay... so this week hasn't felt very eventful, but I'll do my best to make this an exciting email. Once a week, we do service projects here, aka just clean little things around the MTC. Sister Winters and I always joke about how hard it is and how much of a pain it is (sarcastically, because we always get the easiest jobs ever). For example, our list of duties we have had to do includes rinsing off chemical gloves, emptying heavy mop buckets, folding rags (by which I mean, we had to make a stack of twenty rags and then fold them in half), and lemon-oiling doors. When the custodian guy told us to do that, Sister Witners accidentally diva-ishly asked, "*All* the doors??" Ha, such a chore. We even got lemon oil on our cargo and sweat pants, respectively.

We tought in the TRC for the first time this week, which is where people come in to talk to you about gospel stuff so you can practice your language. It went okay. Our first session went well and then in the second session, the people wanted us to talk about the Plan of Salvation. We got about halfway through the lesson, before we had to tell them that we didn't know any more vocabulary to teach the rest of the lesson. Sister Fan, my Taiwanese MTC teacher who I adore, was watching us on the little TV things, and I asked her if she laughed at all while we were talking and she was like, "No.." and I said, "A little bit?" And she said, "Okay, yeah, a little bit." And then later she told us that sometimes she laughs a lot when she watches us. So flattering. Also, I asked her to give us example of something that Chinese people think is funny and after thinking about it, she told us that Chinese people always think it is really funny to watch white people try and speak Chinese. Great.

Okay, so one cool thing I realized about being a missionary is that my missionary purpose and the doctrine of Christ are the same thing (inviting others to come unto Christ, repent, accept baptism, receiving Holy Ghost and enduring to the end). And I also realized that what I am doing as a missionary is essentially the same thing that Christ would be doing if He were on the earth, albeit to a lesser degree. It's so cool to think about. I'm grateful that God trusts us with His work and lets us participate in it. Also, another cool thing I've realized since being here is how much God wants to help us and my dependence on Him. Like, before my mission, if I took a test, then I know I can study for it and I am physically capable of taking the test. I might pray for help, but it's something I can sort of do on my own and I sometimes feel bad for asking for God's help with things. But since coming on a mission, I've realized how much God wants to help us and that we strengthen our relationship with Him and show trsut in faith in Him when we recognize ourd ependce on Him and rely on and ask for His help. Also, it shows humility by acknowledging that youc an't do everything on your own. I've realized this more with missionary work, because like I said, I am physically able to take a test on my own, but I absolutely cannot do missionary work without God's help. And the biggest reason for that is because I and the epople I teach HAVE to have His spirit for conversion to happen and He is the one who grants His spirit to be with us. (Of course we have to be worthy and stuff, but you know what I am saying.) I'm also coming to realize that you can learn so much more and learn better when you have the spirit with you.

Chinese is still like the hardest language ever, but I really love it. Sometimes I feel like my mouth hurts from trying so hard to get the tons right (dramatic, I know). I sometimes can't imagine ever actually being able to speak it, but I'm also trying hard not to think like that and I'm trying to have faith that I'll be able to learn it. Also, drowsy allll the time. What do you do when you get tired or drowsy that helps you stay awake? Oh, one reason I know I am drowsy is because one of our new roommates sleeps on the top bunk of my bunk, and everytime she gets up in the middle of the night to go to the bathrooom, she is sooo loud and the metal ladder always slams against the metal bed frame, which obvs always wakes me up. Love it so much. The other day the elders asked us how we get up to the top bunk, and said, "Do you use the heater to get up?" And we were like, "Uh, we obviously use the ladders." And they were like, "You have ladders in your rooms?!" So funny that the elders don't have ladders for their bunks.

I still love Sister Winters and we still crack each other up all the time. Love that she laughs at all my jokes and I think she is super funny, too. I would probably die without her. Already have separation anxiety when I have to go on splits on not be with her.

Thanks, everyone who wrote me letters this week!! Love you all so much and will try to respond to everyone today!!

Loooove,

Natalie

MTC Letter #2 - November 8th, 2011

2011-11-13T00:20:00.000-08:00

Hi, everyone!

You should just know how stressed out i get to write home - i only get thirty minutes and so I am pant-breathin' the whole time trying to think of everything i need to say and type it out really fast. Sorry about the capitalization - I'm using a ghetto computer with a sticky shift button.

Okay, first things first, family, thank you so so so much for that cute lil' gum shoe orange package and Mom, thanks so much for sending towels! Thank you thank you thank you! And thanks for the snacks. You are all the best. But, also, i miss the boys so much and am a teensy bit chapped that they haven't written me yet. Even Zoe and Aunt Natalie have written me! C'MON! Other than that, still love you all so so much and i will try to write you all letters later today. The other thing that is really important to me - will you let me know when you have gotten an email or letter from me?? Because I wasn't even sure whether this email came through okay until Aunt Natalie mentioned it in a letter. Anyway, I get all stressed wondering if you have heard from me, so just let me know when you get something from me. Thanks!!

Chinese is getting better. I haven't felt quite so down about it or stressed about it because i have been trying to be super faithful and not fearful about it. I really do love the language and am trying hard to learn it. I definitely feel like David Sedaris' essay "Me Talk Pretty One Day." (read that essay - so funny.) We say eloquent sentences like, "When people no hearken, God bad give gospel." And the other day, someone bearing their testimony said, "I know God is monkey" instead of "I know God is alive." Love learning a language.

My companion is the BEST. Seriously, lucked out so much with her. Her mannerisms and the way she acts remind me of a mix of cousin Kayla and my India bestie Courtney Petersen (tall, DC.) She is so funny and she thinks i'm super funny, which you know how i thrive when peope think I am funny! And I can talk to her about anything, and she has learned that I need lots of reassurance, and so she is always complimenting me and telling me how much better my Chinese is getting, etc. She's so great.

I love my 2 Chinese teachers - one teacher is named Sister Fan - Faj she said that she is in that Chinese branch and that you are her high counciler person. Meet her!! i am in love with her. She is from Taiwan (biggest bonus everrrr to hear a native speak) and she served a mission in Taiwan, as well. She's great. Our other teacher is Brother Mix, and he served in Taichung. He is also really great and yes, Faj, he is super strict with tones and always corrects our tones which is awesome.

I love the people here in the MTC in my zone and branch and especially my district. My district is just me and my comp and a threesome of elders. I know i already told you that, but the dynamic of our district gets better and better. And by that, I basically just mean that the three of them are one-hundred percent different people, and so things get a little tense sometimes and Sister Winters and I always crack up. Sometimes Sister Winters and I chat with this elder from Cleveland (Matt Mays, he think maybe he knows you, but I kinda don't think he does - his name is Elder Tarver) going to Georgia on his mission. He's this tall, funny, black convert who told us the other day that he used to want to be a massage therapist, but decided not to do that becase he gets too grossed out by peoples' feet. Then he said, "This one woman - her feet looked like she'd been kicking car batteries. She had Tarzan toes, for reals. I am not massaging anyone's feet. Sorry, Jesus. That is one Christlike attribute I am NOT going to have." Anyway, love the people here.

Also, slightly funny story, we have been teaching an investigator name Wu Pei Rong, and Elder Stallings in my district, one time said her name in a gangster voice, and so, then, of course everytime someone says her name, I start cracking up. Like even in class. Dangerous. I blame the strict regime of the MTC on my extra laughy-ness. Luckily she isn't our investigator anymore

All the elders think I'm ridiculous because i crack up so easily. The other day, I was telling Sis. winters and the elders how much the laundry room stresses me out. I had just gone to get a sack lunch, and so I was making a pb&j in the lunch line, with plastic bags chuck full of clothes dangling from my wrists, so I was making the sandwich like a t-rex. So I'm already sweating and frazzled and then we get to the laundry room, which is just way too much stimulation for me. There are tons of washers and dryers, tons of people, gigantic fans, sweaty, hot, people standing in the skinny aisles, difficult to figure out how to buy soap and start your washer, etc. Anyway, the elders in my district reeeally appreciated that story (like just laughing so hard) and i thought you'd appreciate it because it is an example of me being ultimately disheveled. . Also, that same elder sometimes just says stuff in a gangster voice and I die laughing. The other day, Sister Winters was like, "Since we're getting better at reading (in Chinse), what do you say we start singing the hymns faster?" And Elder Stallings just looked at her, put his hand up and said in half gangster voice/half Chinese, "Hode up, Jie mei." (jie mei means sister in Chinese.) We died laughing. I will impersonate it when I get home and you will laugh too, even if you don't think it's funny now. Who would have thought I'd love gangster talk sooo much while on a mission?

I am learning so much about the gospel and how to talk about the gospel and how to answer peoples' questions about the gospel and how to teach the gospel. There is so much to learn. More and more, I am feeling the power of God's hand in my calling and I am realizing more and more the sacredness and solemness of this important calling. I'm so happy that I decided to do this. Even though it's been a short time, I already feel changed, and I already sort of can't imagine my life without havng this experience. I am trying to be more bold.

To everyone who wrote me this week, I think I'll be able to write you back today. Thanks for all the letters, you are all sooo great! Love you all so much.

Love love love all of you so much. Thanks so much for your support and prayers.

Love, Natalie

MTC Letter #1 - November 1st, 2011

2011-11-12T23:38:00.002-08:00

You guys, hi! I don't even know what to write but have got to write so much so fast!

So, first of all, my companion's name is Sister Winters. She goes to BYU and is a music ed major and is from Atlanta, GA. She is super awesome. The first day and a half or so, I felt like we didn't really connect or click really well, but now we get along so great and I love having her as my companion. Also, I think she is 100% the perfect companion for me to have right now. She is a diligent learner and hard worker, and even though she has no Chinese background, she is already awesome at Chinese. She is super patient with me and helps me with my Chinese a ton. So my district is me and her and then 3 other Elders who are in a threesome - they are Elder Stallings, Elder Timothy, and Elder Cranney. Elder Cranny is our district leader. We are all going to Taipei, except Elder Stallings is going to Houston, Mandarin speaking. We are together most of the time and have our Chinese classes together. I think that being in a threesome is a teeny bit rough for them, especially for one in particular. So sometimes when I see them, I like to say in a semi-condescending voice, "Elders, how's the threesome going??" They are always like, "oh, going good." But then one of them sometimes kind of secretly rolls his eyes. Funny. They are all so great though. Most of the missionaries in our zone are going to Taipei, and then some are going to Tai Zhung (sp?) and then others are going to NY, New Zealand, Australia, Vancouver, San Francisco, etc.

So, the other day, a bunch of the Taiwan missionaries got called to the nurses office. When we get there, we're all sitting around this table and the nurse starts explaining, "Okay, in order to go to Taiwan, you have to take 5 tests. Four of them are blood tests. No big deal. The fifth one is a stool test." She then proceded to tell us how we have to put this glove on, poo into this little container, break off a chunk of our poo, mix it with this liquid in this vial ("make sure there are no chunks!") and then turn it back into the health center. Yeah. As you can imagine, this has brought up tons of funny comments. For example, the other day, Sister Winters had the brilliant idea of running back into our classroom (where the elders were), grabbing her white paper bag (that has all the stuff we need for the test inside of it) and running back out to the bathroom. Dang, that's not funny written out, but promise it was super funny in person. Me = in the hallway, dying of laughter. Love making those elders mildly uncomfortable. Just kidding, we are super nice to them and always super appropriate with them. Also, let's just say that I did it the most difficult way. Yet another example of how I just naturally think to do things the hard way. Sorry, I know that is all so gross and so unspiritual, but it's basically made this whole week hilarious for me.

For the most part, the MTC is going really great and I really like it here. The first few days were weird/rough, but I'm liking it more and more. Occasionally the food is good (and I mean, who can complain about getting to use spatulas to butter your rolls!), and I am definitely eating more meat than I have ever eaten in my life. Love when thick white paste squeezes out from my chicken cordon bleu. No, but, really, the food is fine.

I had a minor breakdown on Sunday. I had the worst cramps I have ever had in my entire life and I had to keep running around trying to be places on time and I wanted to DIE. I accidentally broke down a little bit when I was interviewing with my branch president because I was so uncomfortable and in so much pain, especially because I couldn't stop and lie down or anything. But he and my companion were so kind and took such good care of me, and I felt better a little while later, and didn't feel frustrated or mopey anymore.

I am loving learning Chinese, but it is also so hard. The other day, as Sister Winters and I were sitting on the couches studying, we heard an elder say, "Depende" (as in, it depends in Spanish.) We were like, you have got to be kidding me. That's the easiest word I've ever heard. Just kidding, I'm not that judgmental because I think learning a language is always hard, no matter what language it is, but Chinese is extra rough. But, we have already learned how to pray, bear testimony, invite people to do things... and lots more. I'm blown away by how fast you can learn here. And I really like the energy of the MTC. Most everyone knows what their purpose is and people are always studying and progressing. It's a cool environment.

Everyone who wants to write me, will you use dear elder instead of regular email? I only have a few minutes to email, so if you want to email, then for while I am in the MTC, dear elder is the best way to go. You can call the MTC to get my address. But if you send something, they are really good about making sure I get mail.

Shout-outs! Allison, you win the prize for sending me TWO letters, Emily, you win the prize for telling me I look like a dream, and Ariel, you win the prize for sending me my first missionary letter! You all rock and I love you all so much. I will write you today.

Wah, love all you guys so, so much!! Being a missionary = totes fun and I can't wait to keep updating you and keep hearing about all of our lives.

Thanks. Out of time. Love and miss you all immensely.

- Natalie

(Editors Note: Sister Christensen's Dear Elder email address is: natalie.christensen (at) myldsmail.net.)

Just a huge backtrack.

2011-10-25T17:44:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to blog about my final days in India and trip to Delhi and Amritsar for like, 2 years - ever since I got back from India. And it'd really be pushing it if I put it off until after my mission.

After spending the night in the little piggy-pen outside the airport in Port Blair, we (me, Meghan, Courtney, Kristin) flew back to Chennai and then to Delhi. Once in Delhi, our taxi driver precariously piled our luggage on top of his taxi and drove us to a woman named Barbara's house, who we would be couch surfing with for a few days. At Barbara's house, a young bearded German man answered the door. We were hoping he was Barbara's young lover, but he was actually just a fellow couch surfer, named Moritz, who had just barely arrived in India from Germany. (Just another awesome benefit of couch surfing - meeting awesome people you never would have met otherwise.)

Street naan.

Spices.

Red Fort

On my favorite day in Delhi, we spent a day with the goal of making it to the Red Fort, but purposefully took all day to get there. (One reason I love traveling with these girls/Moritz. The lack of agenda lends for super fun and interesting detours.) Along the way, we stopped to buy spices, chunky grandpa sweaters and gloves (no more Bay of Bengal, tell you what!), and tried all the street food and fruit we hadn't tried before. We especially wanted to introduce all our India favorites to Moritz. (Side note: sometimes the men in India wear the greatest sweaters and sweater vests I have ever seen – shimmery, fuzzy sweater vests in pink, lavender and bright orange. It’s great. Also, a lot of the women wear sweaters underneath their saris when it is cold. Which is funny, because the women – especially when they wear traditional clothes – are so classy and matchy and put together, but with the sweaters underneath, their saris become clashy and disheveled. It’s charming and endearing.) We also stopped at a peaceful, beautiful mosque we happened across along the way. Except maybe not so peaceful for Meghan, who had to deal with a weird guy tailing her all around saying in his low, raspy voice, "I love you. I love you. Love kiss? Love kiss?" over and over. We finally made it to the Red Fort later that afternoon.

Red Fort.

After the Red Fort, we walked across the street to the Jain temple. Upstairs there were tons of sick or injured birds in cages (the temple doubled as a hospital for birds), and a man summoned me over to a little office and let me feed a little bird three drops of medicine. Oh, you bet that was a highlight of India!

A poster illustrating the ways man can cause injury and death to birds.

The India Gate at night.

After a few days in Delhi, we took a train further north to Amritsar. It was the absolute worst train ride I have ever been on in my life. It was soooo cold, and the later and darker it got, the more freeeezing it got. The train ride was about 8 hours long and since we were in the low-class part of the train, there was no glass over the windows, just open bars. And the doors were never shut – always flapping open in the wind. The train was also really loud and so every time another train went past, it was so loud and abrasive. And because of how cold it was, I could feel myself getting progressively sicker as the night wore on. I told Meg and Courtney and Kristin that I hated this train ride so much that I didn’t think I’d ever be able to laugh about it. (Sure enough, it was already funny the next day.)

Finally, finally, finally we arrived in Amritsar and a man who we were going to couch surf with named Mr. Singh picked us up. Mr. Singh is a Sikh and he owns this beautiful old restored farmhouse in a village outside of Amritsar. He breeds white stallions for a living. He is one of the most hospitable people I have ever met and he loves the couch surfing program because there is a scripture he believes that says “a houseguest is a gift from God.”

When we got to the house, I was shocked to discover how spacious it was and that our bedroom had a huge, delicious bed, with tons of blankets and a shower with hot water. (I was expecting mats, cement floors, and freezing water.) I thought I was going to die from the divinity of it all. We slept so well that night and were awakened in the morning by a random woman in our room. Her name was Rayshma and she couldn’t speak English very well, but somehow communicated to us that she wanted us to go to her village with her to get food. We followed her. She introduced us to charming people, including some of her baby grandchildren and a young woman who did our henna.

Rayshma is the one with the beckoning hand.

Cow manure drying on the wall.

Our henna hands, done by one of Rayshma's friends.

We got back to the farmhouse and ate some of the most delicious food I have ever had in my life. I think a lot of the ingredients came from the farm’s garden. Fresh vegetables, creamy paneer.

Part of the farmhouse. Isn't it so great?! I loved the tile and skinny bricks.

The swimming pool at the farmhouse.

One of Mr. Singh's workers, tending the white stallions.

After eating, we left for the Golden Temple. We began walking towards the main road so we could catch an auto into the city, but Rayshma ran up to us and told us to get in the car with Mr. Singh's brother, who could drive us to the temple. We tried to resist and told her we didn't want to make him do that, but she said one of Indian people's favorite English phrases, "Nooo proooblem!!" So we hopped in and he drove us to the temple. We bought scarves to cover our heads and went into the temple complex.

We sat right here for a long time, looking at the temple as it changed colors as it got darker.

Courtney, Meghan, Kristin.

And we had to document our ultimately disheveled outfits. Grandpa sweaters over maxi dresses, socks with Chacos, fingerless gloves, head scarves, etc.

Waiting at a train station.

We were only in Amritsar for one day, and then took a train back to Delhi. The second the train stopped in the Delhi station, everyone waiting for the train began shoving their way onto the train before anyone could get off. People were even chucking their luggage in through the windows and climbing onto the train via the windows. It was a (hilarious) madhouse.

Once we were back in Delhi, we couch surfed with the coolest person ever. His name was Adam and he lived in Noida (a subcity of Delhi that smelled like rotten eggs/the grossest word ever). He was hilarious, had a "pet" spider who lived behind his toilet, and had the nicest roommate named Raj.

We took a day trip (3-4 hour train ride) to the Taj Mahal. It was for real dreamy. And since you've never seen the Taj Mahal, let me post a million pictures of it:

We spent all day there, minus a lunch break, where we dined looking out towards the Taj, Aladdin-style.

The train back to Delhi took about 5 or 6 hours instead of the 3 or 4. It included being stopped on the tracks in the middle of nowhere for a really long time, and no one knew what was going on. (Per usual.) It also included a middle-aged man sitting on the bench next to me blatantly passing gas in my direction. I'm talking - lifting up a bum cheek and pointing towards me, if you will. It was so great. But, really, India. Always funny.

One of our shopping excursions in Delhi. Wait, seriously, have you ever seen more people in your life?

We spent a little more time in Delhi, flew back to Vizag (where we had been all semester), picked up our luggage, bought sweets and noodles, and flew home the next day. When our director was accompanying us to the airport, some guy got in the way of the car and our driver had to slam on his brakes. Super common occurrence, no biggie. But Krishnayya (our director) exclaimed, "Oh, crap man! That guy is a nerd!" It was a good way to end my time in India.

recent happenings

2011-10-13T22:20:00.001-07:00

Oh, man, leaving so soon. Some missionary related things:

A. My old next door neighbor, Brother Murdock, (who I adore), emailed me and told me he thinks I'll be a wonderful missionary and then went on to say, "I know you have rough edges. I've heard you get angry and swear at your brothers. (They deserved it, by the way.)" Haha, funny slash embarrassing. Also, made me self-conscious. I bet he heard sooo much embarrassing stuff while we were growing up. We're so loud.

B. My mission president looks like Skinner (from X-Files). Meant To Be.

C. The Faj Mahal thinks my missionary clothes are way too un-conservative. When I showed him a floral skirt I bought, he exclaimed, "You think you can just run wild!" So great.

Some non-missionary related things:

Went to the Relief Society broadcast with Ariel. While we were walking with the hoards of women to the conference center, I kept getting really stressed because the lining of my skirt was hiking up so high that I couldn't pull it down and I could tell it was making my underclothing show a little bit in the back. I kept trying to tug my skirt down, but it wasn't really working. Then while standing on the street corner, a woman really nicely told me that I needed to pull my skirt down. I explained why I couldn't and she said to the girls around her, "All right, surround her!" So all the cute women around her (I think they were part of her family) surrounded me so I could lift my skirt up and pull the slip down, and they were definitely all helping pull the slip down, too. (Is this story tmi for a blog? Gah, hope not.) It was so funny and so cute of them. Made me love Mormon women even more.

Wait, have you guys been to that waffle/fries place in Salt Lake? I forgot how good it is. It is sooo good. Seriously some of the best food ever. Ariel and I went before the broadcast. And what kind of blogger would I be if I didn't take pictures of delicious food? Not the cute/fun kind, tell you what!

Dining with these awesome people (my summer camp besties). Taylor, Nic, KC. Some favorites. I have so many favorites.

I don't know why I am standing like that.

Park City art stroll with Brittany and Emily, MOA besties.

Niels ran his first marathon! The Faj Mahal ran his, like, 70th.

Denver area, circa summer 2010.

2011-10-06T21:07:00.001-07:00

2011-10-05T20:28:00.000-07:00

Actually, not done.

2011-10-04T16:15:00.000-07:00

Here's a little video that illustrates what I had to put up with on the entire bike trip.

*Also, they hadn't been waiting for 2 hours. More like 2 minutes.

Annnd just a few more biking pix, and then I'm for reals done.

2011-09-24T09:06:00.000-07:00

And just a little more myspace for you.

Final Days

2011-09-22T17:20:00.000-07:00

All right, we're just going to combine the last days into one blog, because this is getting a little old.

So, on Thursday morning, we woke up and biked about 19 miles, from Panguitch Lake up to Cedar Breaks. Again, it was a little rough because there was so much uphill, but it was a way shorter distance, so it was really manageable and so, so beautiful. Also, the weather was much cooler because we were gaining a lot of elevation. (Aka steep hills.) When we got to the campsite there, we ate, showered, read and listened to ipods for about 4 hours.

Breakfasting on prepackaged muffins from Panguitch Lake general store before biking.

The road we took up to Cedar Breaks.

Celebratory lunch. Prepackaged fruit pies, tapioca pudding, and pringles never looked so good. Am I right!

Just being the cutest sibs ever.

And we took portraits to document tan lines and sweaty faces.

Thighs n' tan line. I won for least significant tan lines, but they're still totally there! Win.

Niels.

Finn.

The Faj Mahal.

Hands-down tan line winner.

On Friday morning, we rode from Cedar Breaks down to Cedar City. It was a totally fun ride, because it was fast downhill the entire way. We got all the way down (about 26 miles) in about an hour. Brobros! So fast.

At the top of Cedar Breaks.

At the bottom of the canyon, after coming down from Cedar Breaks.

Once in Cedar City, we took a celebratory picture, act breakfast, and waited to meet up with my mom, Lars, and my aunt Bonnie. We spent the afternoon swimming in our motel pool, eating delicious food and desserts, and going to Romeo and Juliet at the Shakespeare Festival.

All in all, such a fun trip. Biking trip - best trip ever. Whenever we got off our bikes, and had to get back on again, we would always (jokingly) be like, "Oh, man, just can't wait to get back on that bike! Can't wait to get that seat in between my legs again!" because we would be so sore and getting on a bike again sounded like the worst thing ever. But, seriously, still so fun. Loved it. Want to do it again. And the hardness of it was obviously way rewarding. It's a really great sense of accomplishment.

So, about that. The Faj Mahal Lars originally didn't have tickets, but then decided last minute that they wanted to come, so they had seats separate from ours. Well, this play had a more sexual interpretation than usual (like a make-out scene at the very beginning of the play, before any lines were even spoken). And we all know how Lars feels about sex. So I was secretly way entertained, imagining Lars' reaction to the whole thing (aka, couldn't stop cracking up during a make-out scene because I was picturing Lars' reaction - everyone for sure thought I was way immature.) So, after the play, I innocently asked, "Lars, did you like the play?"

Lars: "Uh, no. Not at all!"

Me: Why?!

Lars: I just didn't.

Me: Tell me why.

Lars: Okay, well, for one thing: way too much kissing! It's disgusting. Also, they talk to themselves way too much!

Hah, oh Lars. At least he knows what breastfeeding is.

Make up just doing wonders for my face - at the Shakespeare Festival.

Final biking stats:

Day 5—Panguitch Lake to Cedar Breaks Point Supreme Campground
Aug 19, 2011
19.6 miles
Ave. speed = 6.8 mph
Max speed = 35.2 mph
Time in saddle = 2:50
Total time = ~4 hours

Day 6—Cedar Breaks to Cedar City
Aug. 20, 2011
26.7 mph
Ave. speed = 20.1 mph
Max speed = 40.2 mph
Time in saddle = 1:07
Total time = ~ 1.5 hours

Day 4: Piute State Reservoir to Panguitch Lake

2011-09-18T11:39:00.000-07:00

So after a rough day 3, and going many more miles than we thought we would go, the Faj Mahal told us, "All right, I know yesterday was rough but today is going to be a lot easier!" (Lie. After which, the brothers and I loved imitating my dad (you know the dad voice), by saying, "All right you guys, today is going to be a lot easier! Only 60 miles. Maybe 75... Definitely no more than 85 miles today.")

We woke up and biked about a mile uphill to get from the Reservoir back to the highway. This day our end goal was Panguitch Lake. Since it was around 40 miles to the town of Panguitch, we figured it wouldn't be that much further to get to the lake. Or rather, the Faj Mahal figured it wouldn't be that much farther to the lake.

A stop at Butch Cassidy's cabin - too bad we are all standing in front of the cabin.

When we arrived in Panguitch, we stopped at a diner for lunch. (I had cell phone service, so I quickly texted my friends back who had asked me how my trip was going - I always replied "super fun and super sucky.")

At lunch, the Faj Mahal asked a highway patrol man at the diner how many miles it was from Panguitch to the lake. He said 17 - ALL UPHILL. But he also said that the hills were gradual so they shouldn't be so bad. (What was that, Dad? You thought it'd be about 7 more miles?)

So we start biking to Panguitch Lake at like, oh 2 or 3 in the afternoon, aka hottest day of my life. We started going up, like, the biggest hill of my whole life. Not gradual AT ALL. I definitely stopped like four times on the first hill - to drink water, to change into sandals because I felt like my feet were going to fall off from how hot they were, etc. I was definitely cursing the highway patrol guy out in my mind, and maybe a little out loud to my dad (this was not the best trip to help me have better language...) because the hills were huge and I wanted to die a little bit. BUT, after like the first 3 hills, it really was gradually up hill the rest of the way, and it wasn't as bad after that.

At one point, I was slowly chugging up a hill (I was obvs by far the slowwwwest on the trip), and my dad was waiting at the top of the hill for me. When I got to the top, he was like, "I am just so proud of you. I am seriously just so impressed with you." And I was like, "Yeah, don't even be impressed, I almost stopped and walked my bike up that hill like 4 times." And then later he was talking to Finn and Niels and he was like, "You guys, the Lamb is really hardcore." And they were just completely unimpressed, because they were always always pounding it up hills, pedaling hard downhills, always miles ahead of me, etc.

That night in the tent, we played that game where you choose 4 people - one you have to kiss, one you have to marry, one you have to have a baby with, and one you can disregard, and I have never heard the FM laugh harder in my entire life. That game just killed him.

Also, disclaimer - even though I made some cracks about my dad, he really did plan this trip out so well, and was very prepared, and carried the most stuff. And would even stop and wait for me. He's the best.

Day 4—Piute State Park Reservoir to Panguitch Lake
Aug. 18, 2011
63.8 miles
Ave. speed = 9.3 mph
Max speed = 26 mph
Time in saddle = 6:50
Total time = ~ 10 hours

Day 3: Salina to Piute Reservoir

2011-09-16T16:15:00.000-07:00

Some random gas station stop, no clue where.

Day three was one of the more rough days. Probably the most rough day. We left Salina in the morning, with the goal of ending up at Piute State Park Reservoir. We rode through a ton of tiny little Utah towns. We stopped for cookies at a little bakery in Elsanore. Luckily Wednesday is their cookie day, which is the day we were riding through. Their gingersnaps were extra delicious, so we bought a dozen extra gingersnaps to eat later.

A lady at the bakery told us that there was a bike trail that went along the highway, all the way to the Big Rock Candy Mountain (which was one of our resting points/tourist stops). So we rode on this trail, which was nice, and once we neared Big Rock Candy Mountain, it went along a river. The trail had rolling hills, which was a nice break from the country roads that stretched out endlessly before us. The scenery was pretty, and I liked the country roads, but sometimes while riding on them, I wanted to die because you could see a town in the distance because the land was so flat but it would still take foreverrr to get to it.

We arrived at the Big Rock Candy Mountain after tons of miles, and I have no clue exactly why, but for some reason, I HATED the Big Rock Candy Mountain. Maybe it was their lack of delicious ice cream, or my dad’s hype about it being a super fun tourist attraction, or the blazing heat/lack of air conditioning at the one gas station there or just how dang boring it was, but I just hated being there. I don't even know what I was expecting. Girls in bikinis or rafting or something.

This is THE Big Rock Candy Mountain. I know, NOT IMPRESSED.

Don’t be fooled by the word resort.

This photograph is the only reason worth going inside the resort/restaurant.

From there, we just needed to get to Piute Reservoir, but we didn’t know exactly how many miles it was until there. Most people were vague and not entirely sure how many miles. So, a long time later – I have no clue how long – we were still riding, with the Reservoir still nowhere in the distance. It was blazing HOT, Niels was ready to die because he hadn’t eaten enough food, and we were running low on water because it had been so long since the last gas station. And we were in the middle of the DESERT.

Suddenly my dad crossed the highway to the other side, where there was a little dirt road. It looked like this:

Then as I followed him, it started to look like this:

And then this:

WATER.

So we all stopped there and ate gingersnaps and filtered water for about an hour and filled all our bottles up.

Then we continued up the hill we were going up (it was getting close to dinner time at this point), and once we got to the top of the hill, we looked over the valley and saw the reservoir. Of course. We ended up going a lot more miles than we were planning on.

We rode down to the Reservoir and put our swimsuits to fake-bathe, wash our clothes, and cool off in the water. That campsite was not the most pleasant because there was no water (besides the reservoir) and the ground was gravel. But I slept good every night on this trip because I was so beat by the time I went to bed.

Breakfasting at Piute Reservoir.

Annnd a little myspace to brighten your day.

Day 3 stats: Salina to Piute State Park Reservoir

Aug. 17, 2011

62.1 miles

Ave. speed = 10.9

Max speed = 36.2

Time in saddle = 5:40

Total time = ~12 hours

Day 2: Nephi to Salina

2011-09-09T16:25:00.000-07:00

All our shorts/crotch pads drying on the back of the Faj Mahal’s bike. Faj carried the most stuff – his bike has an extension on the bike so he can carry extra stuff.

On Tuesday morning, we biked up and out of Nephi canyon. On Monday, I was dragging going up the canyon at the end of the day. But biking uphill in the morning, when it’s cool and you have just eaten is significantly easier. Duh.

Taken right after leaving Nephi Canyon, I think.

The hardest thing for me, though, was that the bike I was using wasn’t quite the right size for me, and so it was a long stretch for me. Which ended up kind of killing my upper back/neck area, especially right by my shoulder blades. You guys, childbirth in my back. Not even exaggerating. Anyway, basically I just took ib profin in the mornings, and throughout the week, I figured out how to stretch my neck and back out while riding so it wouldn’t hurt so much. Also, made one of boys dig their elbow into my back every time we stopped. That’s why I look like this in half the pictures from the trip.

On Tuesday, we biked through a bunch of small Utah towns. We stopped at the Moroni Cemetery, where the Faj Mahal’s parents’, Bruce and Doris Christensen are buried. I’ve never met them, but always felt a connection with them. We visited theirs and some other relatives’ graves, and met a man who works at the cemetery who remembers a bunch of the Faj’s relatives. I always think it’s cool when he can talk to people who have met his family, because his parents died when he was young (a newlywed), and I am always happy when people remember things about his parents or other relatives.

We biked past Manti temple, (one of my faves), and stopped at a grocery store in Manti for lunch. We bought way too much food at the grocery store (also weird foods that didn’t go together): bagels, cream cheese, cheese, raspberry flavored yogurt pretzels, chocolate soy milk, and grapes. After we ate, we had a bunch of food left over, and the Faj Mahal exclaimed, “Geez! Why did we get the freakin’ heaviest food in the country? It’s like mini water bottles on a vine!” [Referring to the grapes.] I love when the Faj says freakin’.

I think this is the day we got stuck in some construction traffic, too. It’s funny to be on a bike and get stuck in car traffic, because I feel like that never happens.

Once we got to Salina, we stopped at another grocery store to stock up on some more food for dinner. Niels put these dehydrated potato packs into his fancy jersey pockets.

That night we stayed at another really nice campsite – showers and a pool. We all swam for a while. Everyone practiced diving – the Faj Mahal showed off his flawless-dolphin-from-California-grew-up-surfing dives, and made fun of our belly flops. Then we showered, ate dinner, and went to sleep. We anticipated getting into camp in the afternoon and having a couple of hours of downtime, but we usually rolled into camp at about dinner time, freshened up, and went straight to bed.

Total miles for the day: 67.

Day 1: Provo to Nephi.

2011-09-08T21:30:00.001-07:00

So, first some background. Last summer, the Faj Mahal and brothers and I had talked about doing a bike trip – riding from Provo to Cedar City. It never happened – I don’t really remember why. So, this past July, I asked my dad if they were planning on doing that bike trip this summer. He said, “Oh, yeah, we’re doing it in August...” [I think all stories concerning the FM are better if you can say his lines in the voice I normally use for him. You know, you know!] So, I instantly invited myself along and the Faj Mahal was all like, “Okay… well, yeah, sure, you can come. But you have to start training right away…” Aka he was hoping I wouldn’t ask about it so they wouldn’t have to invite me along. Wah-wah. Story of my life – proving myself to the boys in the family by completing physical feats. (You would have to too, if they gave you the nick name “Gym Girl” after they saw some not-so-flattering photos of you running… when you were 17. Yep, they’re still not over it.)

So I started training, including a way-too-dramatic ride with the FM where he casually mentioned:

FM: The boys are just a little nervous that you’ll be slower than them and they’ll have to wait up for you.

Me: Start crying. “Fine, I won't go! Sorry that I’m slower than you guys! And sorry that I’ve been responsible and working really hard all summer so I don’t have very much time to train! You guys hate me! I’m not even coming! If you guys are just all stressed about it, then I’m not coming!

FM: Lamb! No, we want you to come! Come! Just prove them wrong! I told them that we’re in no hurry and if we have to wait up, it’s not big deal! You have to come! Lamb, we really want you to come!

I acted like I was going to turn around and go back home. (Which we both knew was a joke, because I really didn’t want to bike back alone and I probably would’ve gotten lost.)

Blah blah blah (if I were telling this story in-person, you would probably laugh and realize this story is not nearly as serious as it is sounding over blog) – we keep biking and finish our ride. PS, I was accidentally two hours late to work after this ride because I am the worst judge of time in the world. Oh, sure, I can bike 50 miles, get home, shower, eat and make it to work in 3 hours – easy. NOT. Anyway, also shout-out to Ashley and Trev4 for training with me. You guys rock.

Okay, so anyway, we started our trip on August 15^thand finished on the 20^th.

{Loaded up bikes.}

We started biking early (but later than we were planning, per usual) on Monday morning. I was really excited for the trip, but also dreading it a teeny bit because I thought it would probably suck a little/a lot. I mean, this coming from Gym Girl.

{Me, Niels, FM, Finn - just looking cute n' fresh on day 1.}

We left from my parents’ house in Provo. We biked down 9^th East in Provo, onto State Street/Main Street in Springville, through Mona (that road was a kick in the pants - uphill, wind going against us, hot, dry) and all the way to Nephi Canyon.

{Me, Spanish Fork. No pain yet.}

We ate lunch at Wendy’s in Nephi that day. Of course the FM was disappointed. (He always expects culinary excellence.) And Niels said, “Well, what d’you expect?!” - even though he had been raving about Wendy's for hours before eating.

{Sooo many french fries.}

Anyway, after eating tons of food at Wendy’s (bad idea), we biked up Nephi Canyon to a swanky camp site, complete with a swimming pool and a covered pavilion with a stove. That night we made delicious freeze dried dinners, while talking about when I was born (the Faj Mahal was talking about how he cried when I was born, and Finn said, “Yeah, because you weren’t a boy.” – my family = so sexist) and temples. For some reason Niels all of the sudden got waaay stoked to wear one-piece garments.

We played a few rounds of spoons – for some reason I loved it. I think it was because FM secretly loved it and got all stressed when the cards started going too fast.

That evening, it started pouring rain. This happened after we had washed our bike clothes and hung them all up to dry. Not like it really mattered that much for me, since some idiot (Dad? Finn? can’t remember) tripped over the clothes line, and my shirt fell in mud. And everyone thought it was way too hilarious.

(Each night when we showered/if we could shower, we would also wash our bike clothes. We each brought 2 sets of clothes, but we tried to wash the set we had worn during the day that evening at camp.)

Anyway, pouring rain. We all huddled inside the tent. It got dark. Still raining. Then it started thundering so loud. Sooo loud! Couldn’t even hear each other talking. Also, giant lightning. Also, thunder and lightning happening at the exact same time. Also, our tent was held up by a metal pole, which made me way nervous. I asked my dad if it was dangerous to be in a metal-poled tent, during the lightning storm, and he said, “Uh… I think it’ll be all right.” Also, fun fact about Finn – I learned he gets way sketched out in storms. The thunder was freaking him out and so he made us hurry and pray. We stayed mostly dry and slept.

{Finn just being a hipster-bro with his tank and Ray-Bans inside our super rainy tent.}

Total miles for the day: 55, Provo to Nephi.

{Our little tent and campground.}

{Maybe the creepiest picture taken on the trip.}

mobile uploadz

2011-08-31T13:40:00.000-07:00

One time Mark Magleby was making twelve cakes, and Basil (his dog) ate the butter he left out.

Christian, my co-worker, let a frenemy cut his hair. Ha, still dying!

This summer I had a sleepover with Courtney on the front lawn of the hot chocolate house. This is what I woke up to. Still funny!

I ate this cake at a bridal shower this summer. It was so pretty and so delicious.

Courtney texted this photo to me after her graduation. Posed shake-hands photo, always rich. Also, since when does Chuckles wear such cool glasses?

Remember when I saw Robin Williams in NY? I wish I had taken a photo with my head on his shoulder, nestled up against his cheek.

Best Nativity ever. Bean Museum.

Sometimes Trevor texts me photos of Finn.

Remember when I had feathers in my hair? That was a fun phase that lasted about 2 months. It ended around the time of Women's Conference, after seeing multiple mid to upper-aged women with feathers in their hair.

Sooo many deer.

Ew. (via Alicia.)

Window display at some shop on Center Street. Best.

One time they had these live wrestling matches in downtown Provo...

The Faj Mahal's beautiful dinner.

Kimi, Caitlin, and I at a MOA event.

Olivia R. Jones.

And again.

And again, with Allison.

This was taken the day I got home from NY. As soon as my plane landed, I was getting tons of phone calls from the brothers. My parents were also out of town, and my brothers had run out of money, there was no gas left in the car, Kai had to be taken to American Fork and Dawson had run away and was at the pound in Spanish Fork. So, I'm pant-breathin' and trying to get home as quick as possible. As soon as I got home, I gave Finn and Niels money to put gas in the car and go pick up Dawson. They came home, without Dawson, because they were a few dollars short to pick him up. Ugh. Finn and I go to get Dawson. As we are driving there, my awesome red-head lipstick-wearing boss, Lynda, called me and said, "Natalie, I am so sorry, but despite my best efforts, you have been terminated. Gah! (I was re-hired the next day, but stillllll.) Anyway, we picked up Dawson and I put sheets and towels all over the back of my car so Dawson's nast hair wouldn't get all over my car. I told Finn he had to keep Dawson in the back of my car, no matter what. When we were almost home, Dawson started climbing over the seat, towards the front of the car. I was like, "FINN! Keep him back there!" And Finn was all wimped-out and couldn't keep him back. So then I took this picture.

Birthday best.

2011-08-28T21:17:00.000-07:00

This year's birthday was probably one of the best yet. Sometimes birthdays are stressful - planning things, meshing friend groups, all the pressure for it to be a super fun day. But this year was just relaxed and I saw tons of people I love and did basically everything I wanted to do. It was just the best.

In the morning, I went to Communal for breakfast with the parents. The food there is seriously so beautiful and way delicious.

Communal has the best biscuits I have ever had in my entire life. I had heard that they are divine and on the menu they are called the best biscuits you'll ever eat, or something like that. Honestly, true. That good.

I ate 2 bites of bacon, for the first time in almost five years. Weirrrd. Just trying to break out of the veg thing slowly for the mission.

I went to work for my work meeting, and my co-workers all brought delicious treats to eat during the meeting. Best.

Then I went to visit my dear friend, Analyn, and baby Eamon. Love hanging out with them.

After that, cousin Kjirsten picked me up. When she saw me/my outfit, she said, "Aren't you looking festive today!" hah. We went to cash in on my free birthday frozen yogurt. (Cashing in on free things - always awkward. Thank you, Kjirst, for the moral support.)

I fed Kjirsten all the gross bites of frozen yogurt (melty, hard frozen gummy bears, weird flavors mixed) while she was driving. She's such a champ on my birthday. We went to her house and she gave me a massage that lasted more than an hour! (Even after she massaged all day for her job.) Then I lounged in her way delicious bed (seriously, Kjirst has the best bed), talked to Kimi & Landon on the phone, and made Kjirsten do my eye make-up.

Then we met besties at India Palace for dinner. I meshed at least 3 different friend groups! I know, so bold! (Photo above and the rest of the photos are courtesy of Trev4, per usual.)

My little cousin, Tessa (Kjirsten's little sister), made this for me for my birthday. It's a chocolate taffy and little kitschy broach attached to a ribbon tied around a glowstick. Best.

Steve's face.

hah, Ariel.

Trevor, Steve, Ariel, Daniel, me, Kjirsten, Niels, Erin, Emily.

That night, we went back to my house and had a fire and s'mores. I made Niels re-tell a hysterical story from his first day of work (more on that, later) for the third time that day. Cousin Addison brought a delicious raspberry-chocolate cake over unexpectedly.

Best birthday ever, tell you what!

Farewell to the Jones/Olivia picture overload.

2011-08-22T18:02:00.000-07:00

Two nights before Kimi and Landon moved to Seattle, Niels, Trevor, Steve, Ariel, Matt, Allison and I bombarded them with pizza, salad, and a chunky homemade cheesecake (jk, Niels, it was the best ever). We promised we would come and help them pack and clean, but we mostly just stayed way too late (past 1? sorry guyz), talking, holding baby O, eating, and watching Kimi go through her old trophies and scrapbooks. It was the best ever. We miss them tons and tons. Emily, you were missed.

Matt, Allison, Landon, Kimi, Baby O, me, Steve, Ariel, Tre4.

Kimi, Allison, me, Ariel.

Gah, crossing her ankles. Too cute to handle!

Ariel and Olivia.

Allison and Liv Biv.

Niels kept saying, "Kimi! She's sooo cute. She's so cute."

Trevor melting over little Liv.

And this is what happens every time we hang out past 10 pm with Kimi:

home

2011-08-14T18:50:00.000-07:00

I moved back home today. This is what happened within the first five minutes I was here.

Setting: The brothers and I are sitting around the kitchen table, eating nachos.

Me: It's so hot in here.
Niels: Oh, sorry, I'll leave! (He chuckles; no one else laughs.)
Niels: That was a damn good joke!
Lars: Niels!!
Niels: DDDDDAAAAAAMMMMMMMN.
Lars: Niels!!

And so on.

some big news

2011-08-06T16:51:00.000-07:00

You guys, I got a mission call. To Taiwan, Taipei mission, speaking Mandarin. The Faj Mahal is very proud.

Don't be offended if you had no idea I was even thinking about going. I kept it a secret because I wanted to make a decision on my own without pressure or influence from anyone else. It was a really hard decision and it took me foreverrr to decide to go. But since I turned my papers in for real, (there was a first attempt that didn't quite go through), I have felt pretty calm and not-stressed about my life (!!!). I freaked out a little right before opening my call, knowing that I could getting called somewhere like Nauvoo where I would potentially have to wear pioneer clothes. And maybe even sing and dance. But I am really happy and excited about my call and it feels really good and right.

After I opened my call, Niels emailed this to me:

Funny quote from Lars and Jonathan (Lars' little friend):

Lars - "Oh! So you know my sister, Natalie?"
Jonathan - "Uh huh.. yeah."
Lars - "Well, do you know where she is on her mission, I mean, she's
going to Taiwan on her mission!"
Jonathan - "Ah! Really?! Taiwan is like the best place."
Lars - "Yeah I know."
Jonathan - "Man, Taiwan is seriously like the best place."

I'm so excited to go to the best place.

Also, my friend Lisa taught English in Taiwan, and she posted this cutie mccuterson on her blog:

Gah! Are you just dying from the cuteness?!

dream trip

2011-08-06T12:36:00.000-07:00

Trevor is taking waaay too long to send me trip pictures. He's busy with, you know, editing weddings and blogging conventions. Boring. So, I'll just have to deal with all my lesser-quality photos. And you'll just have to deal with another California post, as soon as Trevor gives me photos.

Trevor and I drove through the night on Friday. We talked a lot, I slept, and Trevor drank Dr. Pepper all night instead of sleeping. We got to Emily's house in THE DESERT in the morning.

Emily and her family fed us crepes and the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever had in my entire life. Don't worry, Emily's posting them to pinterest. They were that good.

After showering, napping, and holding Emily's baby sister, Maren, we drove to Malibu, where Trevor had to rent a lens from a shop that closed at 6. We got there at 5:59. There was some serious pant-breathing going on from Emily and I.

(Maren and Emily. Photo taken by Trevor.)

LA area, via the car.

For dinner that night, we drove along the Pacific Highway Coast to get to Reel Inn because Sunset magazine said they have the best fish tacos. The fish tacos were honestly really good. I love having friends who will take long drives to get delicious food. And I really just love Emily and Trevor a lot.

The next day, Trevor shot a classy pinterest-worthy wedding in Malibu (the main reason for the CA trip), and Emily and I hung out all day. We went to a Hindu temple which made me crave India a lot. And Emily asked me a lot of questions about the temple rituals and significance, and I realized that I have forgotten basically everything. Boo.

Emily and I spent the rest of our day getting re-routed by the GPS to a windy road along cliffs overlooking the valley, sitting on the coast, thrift store shopping, and running back and forth from the wedding. Aka tons of bonding. She even ganged up on Trevor with me. Usually I am the one who gets ganged up on, so it was nice little change.

Trevor loved video taping things on the trip. Here Emily is cracking herself up as she tried to run away from his camera.

After Trevor was done with the wedding, we started driving to Newport Beach. We drove through Santa Monica (Emily sang a little mini rendition of Ocean Avenue and it made Trevor and I think, "hm, maybe we secretly love Yellowcard when Emily Brown sings it") and tried to go to the boardwalk in Venice Beach. We got there kind of late, and there were a lot of sketchy people hanging out and maybe I accidentally drove onto the boardwalk and didn't realize why everyone there was yelling and motioning towards us until someone yelled at us, "You're not supposed to drive on the boardwalk!" Sketchy people + yelling at me = all of us panicking and me feeling like maybe we *could* have died.

So we skipped Venice Beach and drove straight to Newport, where Emily's grandparents have a beach house on a private bay, right next to Nicolas Cage's old house, nbd.

The rest of the trip was a total dream. We swam at night in the bay, laid on the dock listening to Emily play the guitar and sing, went to the beach every day (one day, there were dolphins swimming 30-50 feet away from us - such a dream!), rented bikes and cruised around Newport and Huntington, visited San Clemente, roasted hot dogs, vegetarian corn dogs, and marshmellows on the beach at night, ate tons of good food, died laughing from Trevor's newly invented voices, talked about brobro's, shopped, etc, etc. And without too much persuasion, Trevor and Emily convinced me to stay another day. Duhhh.

Cutie Emily by our cutie bikes.

Newport Beach.

Newport.

mini update

2011-07-28T17:39:00.000-07:00

I just got home from an awesome trip with an old best friend and a new best friend. Check out Trevor's tumblr about it here. More to come when Trevor's done editing trip photos.

The 4th

2011-07-10T14:47:00.000-07:00

Highlights of my 4th = downtown Provo, people watching, and hanging with Trevor. So glad we're besties.

Trevor's All My Friends Are Monsters project at Station 22.

After walking through the food booths a million times, I finally decided to eat frozen cheesecake dipped in chocolate, thus breaking my twisted taters tradition.

This is what a war photographer looks like.

Documentation of Trevor eating sugar. (!!) Try having a male friend who never eats sweets. Makes you feel awesome.

Saturday.

2011-06-26T14:42:00.000-07:00

You guys. Kimi had her baby early on Friday morning. I finnnally got to see Kimi, Landon, and tiny precious Olivia on Saturday afternoon.

Olivia Rose Jones. She has Kimi's face, Landon's hair color and skin tone (aka super tan).

This photo taken within the first 10 minutes of meeting Olivia.

My new favorite picture. Gah, already love her so much.

I'm dumb and didn't get a picture of Kimi, Landon, and Olivia together. But Kimi was either partially-nakie, eating, or in her hospital clothes.

After hanging out with the Jones', I went to Cherie's wedding. And was so excited because my aunt and uncle and cousins were there - wahoo! And Daniel.

Gah, how much do you love baby Anson stuffing watermelon in his mouth?!

Cousins - Breanna, her ginormous baby Anson (what? eating again?), and Trisha May.

Then I rushed over to Marlee's (MOA bestie) wedding reception so I'd be there at the same time as Matt and Allison because I never pass up an opportunity to hang out with them.

Love Allison. Wish I had worn my hair down and glasses so we would have looked more alike.

Hippest, hottest, best-dressed couple ever.

I kind of love this picture of Marlee and my weird faces.

Marles. Hates when I call her that, but I just can't not.

Then I rushed back to Provo (new goal: don't run late - makes me endlessly flustered and panicky) for Emily Brown's farewell show. No photos, but she's such a rockstar.

Today

2011-06-22T21:28:00.000-07:00

Today I was at Day's Market and I saw Justin Hackworth. We've maybe sort of met once before, like 2 years ago, but it was at a gallery opening and it didn't really count. Now, I see him all the time, but it's always at big Provo events, so I've never approached him. And Trevor talks about him allll the time. Anyway, so when I saw him in the soda/chip aisle at Day's, I finally went up and introduced myself. It ended up being such a delightful encounter. He liked my glasses and asked if he could try them on. So we walked over to the doughnut mirror, he put my glasses on, and asked me to take a picture.

(This picture, which he emailed to Trevor, and Trevor emailed to me.)

Fun fact: we both got our glasses from zennioptical for like $20 - twinners!

Then we talked about how we were/are both English majors, he asked me who was going to shoot my wedding out of him and Trevor - (Trevor's been winning that one for years, though), told me how great he thinks Trevor is, and he asked me if I knew of any good writers in the area who could potentially read an essay at one of his gallery openings. Aaanyway, now I'm even more of an official fan than I was before.

Power couple twinners.

2011-06-21T18:01:00.000-07:00

Currently on my mind:

2011-06-18T22:01:00.000-07:00

- Contemplating how I can be more like Courtney. Maybe I'll do the Monster Project? Probably not though. (Also: my favorite DC moment with Courtney - sifting through a huge, dusty basket of ceramic beads, which crouching in the middle of the aisle of a small, kitschy tourist shop in Georgetown.)
- Keep thinking about this article. I love this travel philosophy.
- How much I love working with special needs kids. And even though the pool gets boring after about 30 minutes, I'm so happy to have an outside job in the summer.
- Quilts like this at the MOA.
- How much I love American movies because they always have happy endings. {Also, I need to remember this the next time I watch a movie. Lately the anxiety I experience while watching a movie for the first time is out of control. Sometimes when characters are in a tight spot, I catch myself praying that they won't die, which is seriously way too much stress for a little 2 hour movie at the dollar theater.}
- How much I love Reese Witherspoon's hair in Water For Elephants. (And how many times Niels leaned over during the movie to tell me how sultry she looked.)
- Wedding receptions, bridal showers, and bride's maids - of course. Thank you, June.
- How glad I am I took a trip to see the India besties.

India, 2009.

Baby Shower for Kimi

2011-06-05T18:16:00.000-07:00

Allison and I threw a little baby shower for Kimi's cute little baby girl. Well, Allison and her mom basically did all the work. They are so great.

Allison's adorable and delicious food display and Lisa giving me double peace signs in the background. The crookedness of this photo was an accident - I was def NOT trying to get a cool angle.

Cute Ariel (my new favorite friend) and Kimi.

Kimi looking cute and me sporting a butt-crack part. (Thanks, Lisa.)

All of us MOA bffs = the best kind of friends.

Kimi's cute little baby.

Niels, the high school graduate

2011-06-03T22:35:00.000-07:00

Niels graduated. The girl speakers talked about being skinny (sort of), the senior class tried to do a flash mob (seriously, nothing makes me more uncomfortable), and the Faj Mahal was ultra chapped as he tried to navigate through hordes of people to find me and the seats I had saved. Finn, the Faj, and I read throughout the whole ceremony, while Lars played an iPod and my mom listened. It was delightful.

(They couldn't take a normal picture.)

(Note the Faj trying to act unamused as Niels grabs him in a too-tight one-armed embrace.)

(We couldn't really take a good picture, either.)

And now Niels is working on a ranch for an undetermined amount of time, and I didn't realize how much I would miss his yelp-singing, side jabs, idiotic puns, and naked jokes.

Final Trip Installment

2011-06-03T22:10:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday morning, I left Kristin and Boston, and took the Fung Wa bus back to New York City to hang out with Annie, Yahya, and Baby Khalil. Yah-dog and Baby Khalil picked me up in Chinatown where my bus stopped - so nice of them. Yahya taught me the New York rules of the road as we drove to Queens, where we visited Principal Annie at her school. I got to meet lots of Annie's co-workers, as Annie excitedly introduced me as her little sister's best friend, and then they told us that we looked like sisters. Bonus!

Then we went to a Korean restaurant in Queens and ate really spicy squid and onions, and Khalil sucked on the chair. It was seriously way too cute. And definitely way cuter than it was gross.

Love this cute little baby!

After dinner, we walked around and shopped. I wanted to buy a coat from a thrift store, but I didn't have any cash. So, when I was walking away from the store, the owner said, "It's all right - you can take the coat and mail me the money later!" So sweet! Annie called it my good karma coat.

Annie and Yahya dropped me off at the airport that night, because my flight left suuuper early the next morning. Annie kept telling me how bad she felt about dropping me off at the airport the night before my flight, but it ended up being the best airport experience of my life! A dreamboat from Oregon enlisted me and these two Russian girls to play cards with him all night, and then he played his guitar and sang. Best airport night ever.

Boston

2011-05-31T16:28:00.000-07:00

Here are seven million reasons why I fell in love with Boston:

Adorable houses.

Beautiful buildings.

Brick sidewalks, ah, dying of the cuteness!

Cannoli - pant breathin' just thinking about these! Another thing I will eternally crave.

Inside the Boston Public Library, Kristin's favorite place in Boston.

Outside the library.

Boston, as seen from the library.

Me, modeling our Boston Cream pie. (Eaten mere hours after cannolis and the richest seafood macaroni and cheese. Needless to say, we felt like we were going to puke, but since I had such a limited amount of time in Boston, we had to get the pie right then and there. Still delish.)

Us in front of a huge picture of Boston cream pie.

Beautiful churches.

Brick buildings covered with moss.

Beautiful parks!

park monument

Seriously, how did it even get so pretty??

Another charming old bookstore.

In love!

RE-ENACTMENTS!! My new favorite thing, although they have the potential to make me as uncomfortable as flash mobs.

Brick roads - even more charming than brick sidewalks!

Inside the Paul Revere church.

Heart her!

Us looking pained, for some reason. I think the people taking our picture were making un-funny jokes.

Other reasons that are not pictured: french fries and mussels at a delicious seafood restaurant, Kristin's charming house in Arlington, H&M, Walden Pond (and swimming in Walden Pond).

Don't you want to go?! I'm already scheming about how I can move there as soon as possible. Which, even though I say that anytime I visit anywhere, I'm for real this time.

NYC: Day 2

2011-05-30T09:52:00.000-07:00

So, the night we spent in New York, Courtney and I shared this little single cot and one blanket. But I slept so great, because I was so exhausted. So great, that apparently in the middle of the night, Courtney tells me I stretched my arms, knocked over a glass, which shattered onto the floor and I didn't stir at all. Guys! I normally wake up at any little sound! All the girls woke up, and Courtney tried to wake me up to tell me what happened, but I was having some deep REM's.

Us in Central Park. (Don't mind my gigantic hair scarf.)

On Sunday, (our day 2 in NY), we walked around the city, and wandered through Central Park, coming upon a Japanese festival and enchanting music street performers. We found a bench in the park and talked forever and ate chocolate that Meghan had brought specially from Chicago.

chocolate bars

We wandered around and saw this gem:

and went into St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Courtney and Meghan's bus back to DC picked up by Times Square and since we couldn't stop thinking about the pizza we ate the night before, we went back to get some. And document the deliciousness.

Me and Kristin.

Kristin, Courtney, and Meghan.

All of us, just loving our pizza.

And then we saw: (!!)

Robin Williams, coming out of a theater, so we had to run over to snap a few, India style.

Then, we said goodbye to each other (sad!) and Kristin and I ran over to Chinertown to catch the Fung Wa bus back to Boston.

View of NY and cemetery from the Fung Wa.

New York: Day 1

2011-05-28T14:05:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, Courtney and Meghan and I took a bus from DC to New York City (after some extreme-stress-ticket-confusion, and Courtney almost not being able to get on the bus, the bus attendant came up to us and told us we could hurry and get on the bus, just like it was a little secret). Kristin (our other India friend) met us in NY from Boston. Our bus dropped us off in Times Square, and we met Kristin in Chinatown where the Fung Wa bus had dropped her off. It was so great to all be together. My whole time in DC, I couldn't really update Courtney and Meghan on anything exciting, (which, honestly wasn't that much, anyway) because we had to wait to be with Kristin. So, once we were together we spent all day talking and updating each other. And, gah! They are all doing the coolest things. Coolest people ever, seriously.

On the train, I was sitting by an awesome lady who told me tons of cool things to do over the weekend. Following her recommendations, we first went to Brooklyn where we went to Almondine Bakery and Jacques Torres Chocolate where we had the most delicious frozen spicy hot chocolate. Gah, also eternally craving that. One thing I love about India friends is that they will search and walk until we find delicious food, even if we're starving. It's the best. I ate sooo much divine food on this trip.

Me and Courtney.

All of us, just looking so fresh after our super early bus rides.

Meghan and Courtney.

Brooklyn Bridge.

Brooklyn street

buildings in Brooklyn

After sitting on a bench looking out to the bridge and skyline and talking for a long time, it started to rain. We all hurried to a store awning and waited underneath it until the rain subsided a bit. Then we walked through Brooklyn some more and then made our way to Greenwich Village and Strand Bookstore.

My view whenever I sat down on my duffel, since I can't handle standing in place for more then 4 seconds. (Oh, ps, we had to carry our luggage around on this trip. Carrying 2 shoulder bags around NYC = so delightful. Great planning on my part, per usual.)

Raspberry chocolate hazelnut cheesecake in Times Square. Duh. Thank you Courtney for craving it.

Times Square.

All of us in Times Square. (Oh, also, rompers are really great, but just keep in mind that it's like wearing a one-piece swim suit, except more difficult. So it might not be the best idea to wear a shirt, belt, aaand blazer over it.)

Eastern Market, D.C.

2011-05-28T13:39:00.000-07:00

delicious desserts

meat

Courtney and Meg

Courtney loves cookies, tell you what!

(*Other noteworthy food eaten in DC: chocolate-caramel shakes from Shake Shack and Courtney's roommate's Lindsey's chocolate peanut butter cupcakes.)

We went to a charming old bookstore next to Eastern Market - owned by your typical cute and quirky old man. He had a list of words that are not spoken in his shop, and he labeled his book sections in such great ways, as shown below.

The District

2011-05-27T23:50:00.000-07:00

Capitol.

Some of my India friends and I have been wanting to travel together ever since we came home from India, and since they're all doing awesome and adult-ish things on the East Coast, I flew out to hang out with them. My first stop was in D.C., where Courtney and Meghan are living and working/interning. Here are some highlights from DC.

Capitol.

Meghan at Cafe 8 on Capitol Hill, where I tried delicious new food, including muhammara.

Pide.

Cute restaurants on Capitol Hill.

Capitol Hill.

Library of Congress.

Inside of the Library of Congress, where Meghan is interning.

DC has an endless supply of adorable houses, tell you what!

The Cute Baby and I at Abe Lincoln Memorial on a rainy night.

Washington Monument, as seen from the Abe Lincoln Memorial.

Courtney and I walked around Georgetown, and ate divine Ethiopian food from a restaurant called Das. (Gah, eternally craving.)

Part of Georgetown campus.

Cemetery on Georgetown campus.

Georgetown = adorable.

Natalie.

Courtney.

While Courtney and Meghan were at work, I went to TONS of museums, ate tons of food delicious pizza, pretzels off the street, and food from the Native American museum cafeteria.

Attempting to do a self-portrait in front of this Donald Judd piece.

A Smithsonian castle, or something.

Courtney's cute** neighborhood, where precious old men sincerely tell Courtney as she walks to work in the morning, "You are lookin' so nice today - just like a flight attendant!"

** Her neighborhood is not as cute late at night when it's dark and you're walking home, while talking about X-Files.

MOA fun

2011-05-09T17:42:00.000-07:00

Oh, man, can't even describe how much I love working at the MOA.

Allll of us at our last work meeting.

Documenting the last day of Carl Bloch.

And, lastly, I have really mixed feelings about this picture. I mean, I would normally welcome this kind of attention, but next time I won't wear a fuchsia cardigan, with a black shirt, and a tiny bedazzling hair clip. Oh, and I would wash my hair. I do love Chris' tie, though. I also loved when they were photographing us, and Chris said something funny, so I looked up at him and laughed. Then the photographer said, "That was good!" and made me look Chris in the eyes, while smiling up at him. For a long time. Anyway, still wanted to document this to my blog. So, I guess I really am more in love with myself and having attention more than I hate the outfit. I lose.

So, so in love with these people.

2011-04-17T21:01:00.000-07:00

{Kaitie, Jessica, Caitlin, me, muted Harry Potter playing in the background}

I love working at the MOA more than I can even describe, and I love these people more than I can even describe. Jessica Day Smith is moving to Wisconsin in a couple of weeks and having a baby in November. (Baby no longer has a tail or webbed fingers, thank goodness!)

So, we MOA girls threw her a little last minute baby shower - potluck-Harry-Potter-style. I'm dumb and forgot to take a picture when everyone was there, so the pictures have only a few of us, unfortunately.

I'm totally bummed that Jessica Day is moving. She has dealt with me being mopey and complain-y to her allll semester long. She's always super patient and nice, keeps it real, and is one of the wisest people I know. Like when Kaitie was all nervous about calling some Senator to tell him that she didn't agree a bill he was trying to pass, Jessica finally said, "Kaitie, if you can talk to God, you can talk to the Senator." Doesn't that make you feel less stressed about talking to, oh, I don't know, some museum director? Well, not for me. But, Jessica is wise and she has given me so much good advice this semester - I will probably make poorer decisions without her in my Provo life.

Kaitie is so domestic. She made this blanket for Jessica, like, over the weekend. And even though it's finals week, Kaitie's facebook updates are comprised of invitations to craft parties she is hosting, making bagels with her roommate, and pinterest.

And look at Caitlin's creative domesticity. Harry Potter t-shirt, and she is currently knitting a Gryffindor colored mini scarf for Baby Smith.

Gah, it's hard/awesome having such talented friends.

Cuter than conference.

2011-04-03T16:05:00.000-07:00

Dawson laid on Finn's stomach for a whole thirty minutes. It was so adorable.

I vote that Niels should take conference to heart the most.

Just kidding, I'm not that judgmental.

Spiry Jetty

2011-03-29T21:22:00.000-07:00

The other day, the curator of contemporary art at the MOA, Jeff, came into the room where I work, and asked if I/any other interested MOA employees wanted to go to the Spiral Jetty with him later that week. He had just sent an email to all the art students, and told us that if we wanted to go, we should email him within the next five minutes, as he only had a few available spots in the car and he was anticipating that it would fill up fast.

Well, you know how much time limits and the promise of missing out on awesome opportunities (especially with awesome lib-arts people) stress me out! So, I quickly committed, making my co-worker Allison commit with me. But, then for the rest of the week, I was all undecided about my already made decision. I was still hobbling around due to a very minor foot surgery (no comment), but I felt bad because Jeff had already ordered my Kneader's vegetarian box lunch! (I mean, who else would want to eat that?) Anyway, it was totally Meant To Be that I went, because since then my feet haven't hurt at all.

Anyway, sorry my indecision made a very boring story (but aren't you curious about my minor foot surgery?) And this is what the Spiral Jetty looks like:

MOA girls.

Moa total cuties. Just tryin' out the hip shot technique Master Trevor taught me.

How much do you love the black rocks? Trevor told me that one of his photographer friends from Vancouver said that whenever she sees his photos of Utah, it looks like the end of the world. Doesn't that make Utah scenery even more epic?

Cute Allison, not Sligting.

Congratulations, Caitlin, you made it onto my ever-popular blog! In a picture with me! Double bonus!

Finn.

2011-03-27T19:28:00.000-07:00

Niels, 18.

2011-03-19T19:04:00.000-07:00

On Niels' birthday, I made him hang out with my friends! Best sister ever. Just kidding, it was his idea to hang out with the Jones {Kimi and Landon.} Who wouldn't though? Coolest people ever.

Kimi {super pregnant!}, Landon, and Kent.

So Kent, Niels, and I drove up to Salt Lake. Went to the Gateway for an hour. I complained to Niels about being bored in Urban Outfitters, and made him run back to the car while I was buying pants so that we wouldn't get a parking ticket for going over our time. Best sister ever! {It's not like it was his birthday or anything.}

Then we met up at Hatch Family Chocolatiers with the Jones. Divine hot chocolate. Also, ice cream. Super rich. Thank you, Allison for the delicious recommendation. {You were very missed.}

Landon and Kent.

I was so flustered, trying to figure out which was my cuter side. {Guys, it was really hard - messy hair on one side and a cold sore on the other.}

But, blurry pictures make both sides equally good! Especially when I'm not even facing the camera.

Landon = ultimate creeper, as he back-huggingly tries to accentuate Kimi's pregnantness.

Niels, Kimi, Kent, Landon.

So, while all this fun was going on, Kent had taken my phone and was texting Celia {his sister/my best friend}. I didn't know who he was texting, but I assumed it was probably Celia and so I didn't even think about it. So it wasn't until much later that I realized that this was what was being said:

Kent: Hey sil sars I can't hang tonight - I'm hanging out with a previously married man.
Celia: What!? Who?
Kent: Oh his name is Drew, you wouldn't know him. He's like 30, but looks like 20. Twenty! He's cute. I'll send you a picture after he falls asleep.
Celia: Ha he what? I'm so confused. Why will he fall asleep?
Kent: We're having a co-ed sleepover at seven peaks. We're watching night at the museum 2 now. Then there's the big pillow fight.
Celia: Risky! Don't do the dirty...
Kent: I don't know Celia, I'm kinda feeling it. Anyways I will pencil you in soon. Are you open in late April.

after a couple minutes...

Celia: Is this really Natalie?
Kent: Just kidding Celia it's Kent. I stole Natalie's phone.
Celia: Idiot. I knew it wasn't Natalie. Wanna go to dinner with us?

{Still squirming thinking about how long Celia believed it was really me.}

What? Another Lars story?

2011-03-04T22:12:00.000-08:00

Today when I hugged Lars, I could smell that he was wearing deodorant - the Faj Mahal's deodorant. Strongly. I asked why he was wearing it, and he insisted that he needed it because sometimes he smells really bad. {He's ten. He does smell really bad sometimes - but I feel like it's unrelated to B.O. and more related to showering.}

The Faj Mahal said: "Lars, you can't just rub deodorant onto greasy pits! You need to shower more often!"

{Old picture taken at one of Lars' boring scout meets. I love Lars with his arm wrapped around our necks, Niels' lack of face, and my raptor hand.}

2011-02-22T16:09:00.000-08:00

I know I always post about family dinners. And I totally know that they are not very exciting or fun to read about, but you know, I'm short on blogging material. Niels is currently obsessed with photographing our dinners, so that he can present "Matthew's Meals" on his blog. So, I have some good examples of Sunday night's dinner (which was just as exciting in real life as it is in these pictures.)

No pictures of Finn's face.

Pre-prayer family laugh. Crowded table + "ungrateful children" (according to the Faj Mahal, due to us complaining about the crowded-ness of the table) + Grumpy dad (due to ungrateful children and crowded table) = uncontrollable laughter right before the prayer. Never mind that we had company. The pray-er included vocalizing appreciation for our "cheerful family," equaling more laughter. I actually think this photo might have been taken during the prayer. Niels.

This is an example of how crowded our dinner table was. If you wanted someone to pass the sour cream, then you would have to exchange it for the guacamole so everything could still fit on the table.

Aunt Bonnie, me, cousin Addison.

My cousin Addison and I. Does anyone else feel super weird when pictures of you and your same-age cousin look couple-ish? But this is NOTHIN' compared to this. (Still funny, right?)

Guacamole never looked so good, right?

PS, sorry for the horrible photo quality. I guess this is what the "food" setting on cameras looks like.

I accidentally gave Lars a dumb-kid haircut.

2011-01-31T21:43:00.000-08:00

I trimmed Lars' hair on Friday evening, and this is what accidentally happened:

(He didn't think it was very funny.)

While I was cutting, he wasn't wearing his glasses, so he couldn't really see his head. As soon as I realized how short and crooked I cut his bangs, I tried to hurriedly fix it before he noticed. Unfortunately, he sprang to the mirror before I could stop him and his face looked shocked and confused as he said, "Now I look like one of those dumb haircut kids!" And "It looks like I have a mushroom head!" & "Why did you make the sides so pouffy?! Can you make them flatter??"

So then my dad had to give him a buzz. Just in time for this balmy winter weather.

Sex Education

2011-01-22T19:08:00.000-08:00

The other day, I was watching the movie, "Babies." As I was watching it, Lars walked in the room, asked what I was watching and perched on the couch next to me. It's rated PG for maternal nudity, something I knew Lars would be uncomfortable with. So I said, "Well... You might not want to watch it because... well, do you know how babies are fed?"

Lars said, "No..."

"Okay, well it might sound a little bit weird, but..." and Lars cut me off with, "Don't tell me! Don't tell me! Don't tell me!"

My dad called later that night (he was on a business trip), and I told him, "Dad. Your son does not even know what breastfeeding is." My dad half sighed, half groaned, and commented that he would need to have a talk with him.

This happened about three months ago, and since then, my brothers have enjoyed saying mildly perverse things at the dinner table to make Lars uncomfortable. Lars gets emotional, and the Faj Mahal comforts him by saying, "Larfy, it's okay, don't listen to them. You and I are going to go to Baskin Robbins and get some ice cream and have a nice, little chat." As you can imagine, this did not calm Lars' fears, but rather stressed him out more.

Finally, the other night, the Faj Mahal finally bucked up and took Lars out. As they were preparing to leave, I heard Lars say, "Can we just, like, get ice cream, and then eat it in the car? Because I do not want to start crying in the restaurant."

When my dad got home, the report was much more boring than we anticipated. The only reaction Lars really gave was, "That is disgusting!" and "That is sooo disgusting!"

Anyway, Lars is definitely the youngest child. And as everyone besides Lars is now a teen or older in the family, the siblings and I find Lars weirder and weirder.

Here is an example of why we think Lars is weird. (Finn discovered this gem on the family computer: "Uh... guys, did you see this video Lars made?" Poor bored, youngest child.) You will probably think this video is boring, but I think it is endlessly funny.

Always a bride's maid, never a bride.

2010-12-23T21:59:00.000-08:00

This is my third time being a bride's maid this year. You know what they say... Anyway, it was an honor to be a bride's maid for Celia.

Sometimes Celia and I accidentally touch each others' bums.

Photo courtesy of Margaret Maurice.

Love them.

Updates

2010-12-04T23:19:00.000-08:00

Harry Potter #7, Part I - awesome, right? Lars and I thought so. Lars assured me that he covered his eyes during "that one part." Which is good, or else it would have ruined the whole movie for him. Fun fact: Lars doesn't know how babies are fed. (He's ten.) When I tried to explain by saying, "Well, it might sound a little weird, but..." Lars quickly cut me off and refuses to listen to anyone who tries to bring it up. Awesome.

Anyway, Lars loves Harry Potter and I when I walked into the kitchen while he was doing dishes, he had a chopstick out and was dance/fighting all over the room with it. Adorable.

(These pictures are not from that specific instance - I'm not that good of a blogger.)

Thespian.

We were supposed to go to Denver for Thanksgiving (how much would you have loved to see more of this? 'Cause I sure would've loved to share!), but unfortunately, due to icy Colorado mountain roads, we had a super small Thanksgiving at my house.

My cousin Jeshua - also my most intelligent cousin. (Sorry, Addison.)

Cute thanksgiving boys.

I love this picture because my dad started off on the bottom (and the only one on the couch) and somehow got pushed up by Niels and Finn. He has so much fun with his kids! You can see it on his face.

And lastly, bridal shower for Celia. Everything was almost a disaster (crumbly tarts, a dip that turned into baby food, not enough bread), but thankfully dear friends saved the day. (Shout out to Andy, Kimi, and Ami.)

Another fun fact: tonight I saw Amelia (far right) while she was on a date. (A first date.) And during the two minutes I was chatting with her and her date, I definitely brought up marriage, indirectly, and babies.

And some buffalo from Antelope Island. This happened a while ago, but aren't they so cool and pretty?

Antelope Island Excursion

2010-11-10T20:51:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, Trevor, Bruce, Andy, and I went to Antelope Island. It was super delightful. Sometimes it stunk like something bad - I can't remember what we decided it smelled like. Andy said it smelled like salted diapers, which was probably mostly true.

We trekked across rocks, like true explorers. [trevorchristensen.com]

[trevorchristensen.com]

Me and Andy-pants. [trevorchristensen.com]

[trevorchristensen.com]

Trevor. Posed.

Fake buffalo.

Real buffalo.

Bruce waited in the car while Trevor, Andy, and I started to walk a little bit closer to a buffalo. Park rangers kindly reprimanded us, and Bruce stayed in the car, worrying that he would possibly have to bail us out of jail. (Just one reason Bruce is so awesome - he was thinking about that.)

Brue and Andy, engrossed in the film shown at the gift shop. Trevor and I looked at the stuffed animals and postcards. Sometimes we could hear Andy and Bruce start laughing really hard. We wondered what was so funny. They never explained it very well.

A farm on Antelope Island.

Marshy Utah.

Epic clouds.

Beautiful Utah.

And, at about dusk, we ran out of things to do...

Then we went to dinner at Chipotle with more friends, and listened to a voice recording Trevor made when he was, like ten. He hated it and we all loved it.

Youngest Child

2010-10-13T20:37:00.000-07:00

I just came across these gems...

I don't even feel bad, because he's still the Faj Mahal's favorite!

True Love.

2010-10-08T18:21:00.000-07:00

{Just clipping Kimi's toenails for her really early in the morning on her wedding day while she did her hair. Allison painted her toenails in that same position - except she looked more graceful than me. As always. Whatever, I'd do anything for Kimi any day and I don't have a feet phobia like most of my friends so it totally worked out.}

My fam dam.

2010-10-06T20:52:00.000-07:00

Lars: age 9. Cries if you say "damn" or "sex" in front of him. (Just as it should be!) NIELS.{PS: Want to hear a funny story? The other day, Niels, the Faj, and I were in my bedroom talking. Lars comes in with a little piece of paper, and hands it to my dad saying, "Here, Dad, I wrote my poem." My dad reads it and it is really good - too good. So my dad says, "Lars, did you write this?" Lars: "Yeah!" Dad: "Oh, did you like get the idea from another book or something?" Lars: "No! I wrote it myself!" {Starts crying and runs out of the room.} Niels and I are cracking up, and we all run upstairs after him. He's in his bedroom, with the poem shredded to pieces in his garbage can and he's saying, "Fine! I copied it out of a book because writing a poem is too hard!" The next morning, as Lars and I were getting ready for school, he said to me, "Well, it's like, my teacher never said we couldn't copy a poem. He just said to write one. Ya know what I mean?" Yep, Lars, I totally get it.}

Finn: age 13. Obsessed with skate boarding. Still hugs me and tells me he loves me. Recently wrote an autobiography for school, in which he described Kai as having gages and a chipped tooth, and then wrote that Kai and I look the same. Thanks, Finn. Also wrote that his father is a slightly balding man, who is going through his mid-life crisis. Hah!

Niels: age 17. Always yells the word "damn" to make Lars cry. {example: "I just want some DAMN lemonade!" Very rude.) Niels always redeems himself when he does something rude by hugging and kissing the person, practically forcing them to love him. He really is great though. And hilarious.

Kai: age 19. Has gages. Could be my twin. Miss him tons because he's grown up and busy with friends - you know how that goes. I can't even judge - I'm a little too attached. It's embarrassing sometimes.

Me: age 22. Can't make decisions.

And some more family pictures taken a couple weeks ago at Squaw Peak by the awesome Trevor Christensen. (All photographs by Trevor Christensen.)

And another bestie is wed!

2010-09-25T18:16:00.000-07:00

Allison got married on Friday morning. She looked so beautiful and I couldn't stop staring at her dress. So. Pretty. The entire day was so great. I love being able to hang out with best friends all day, especially for something as awesome as a wedding. Did I mention that all my closest friends have gotten or are getting married this year? Crazy!

Beautiful Allison.

Bride and Groom.

All the bride's maids. Allison's friend, Amy on the far left.

Allison and Kimi and I.

Niels. Total gem. Came up with me all day.

Cutie Kimi and Landon.

Lunch break with Kimi, Landon, and Niels at Red Iguana. Have you been?! It's sooo good.

Niels and I shopped all afternoon (having a brother who loves to shop is the BEST) and went to get boba drinks for a little pre-reception dinner.

Kimi and I and our MOA bestie, Ashley.

MOA besties.

MOA besties, again. This is why I always have to look cute when I go to work - do you see how cute they all are?! Adorable.

I looove Kimi so much and I loved hanging out with her all day. Wish we could hang out all day, every day!

I cannot even express how much I love Allison and how grateful I am for her and her stellar example in my life. She is so uplifting, gracious, and constantly kind, sensitive, and supportive to me. I'm so happy that she married such an awesome man.

Some things I heart.

2010-09-12T16:36:00.000-07:00

Cute boys.

Family dinner.

Finn, the spaz.

Love them.

What the?

So handsome, right?

My cousin, Amanda, and her huge baby, Truman.

Some India friends with our Indian professor, Krishnayya.

Delish food. Feet by food, no biggie. Unless you are Celia.

Bombshell India friends.

Bridal showers with MOA girls. Love them!

PS, working at the MOA again. Love it!

Preparing for Kayla withdrawl...

2010-09-12T14:27:00.000-07:00

Kayla, (one of my dearest cousins) and I took a quickie pre-school trip to visit our dear friend, Amy, who we went to China with on study abroad in 2005. I wanted to stock up on Kayla time before she leaves on her mish. (I'm starting to feel dumb about shortening words. I never have felt dumb about it before, even when I lived with roommates who made a collective goal, including me, to stop shortening words. Growing up?) And thank you to my dear friend, Alicia, who gave us delightful and delicious San Diego recommendations.

Kayla at Pokez - delicious vegetarian Mexican food.

This is what I would look like if I were made into a bobble head.... on my birthday! I turned 22. Kayla took really good care of me and bought me food and made me be the driver, even though I didn't want to. She's the best!

Amy's tiny girl Casey. Pretzel bagel. So salty and so divine.

Beach shops.

Me on the beach. (Amy taught Kayla and I how to surf. Except I stayed on my stomach the whole time. But Kayla got to her knees! She's so great.)

Kayla didn't like documenting things as much as me.

My favorite drinks in ChinerTown.

Amy and Casey.

The only picture we have of the three of us, taken when Amy was dropping us off at the airport.

Other highlights:
- Long conversations with Amy and Chris (her husband).
- Casey calling us her "lady friends."
- Sleeping in the same bed as Kayla, as we did for months in China. Even though she falls asleep really quickly, so no late night convos there.
- Thrift store shopping.
- Finding a store where everything is $5.99 or less, just like my favorite Susie's Deals in Provo!
- Eating delicious food.

2010-09-02T18:37:00.001-07:00

St. Jorge

2010-08-22T14:27:00.000-07:00

I went to St. George to go to Andy's family reunion. Andy and his brother, Rob, both ran into this ball and Rob totally fell over. Rob wanted a retry.

Only to dodge the ball last minute and scamper away.

I also went to St. George to help Celia and Benson load up some grandma furniture for Celia and Benson's new and glam future home.

Sometimes I pretend to tickle people's bums. I don't even know why. I know its immature and unfunny. But I'm sure glad I'm rubbing off on Andy! Poor unassuming Benson.

Then we were distracted for a long time discovering lots of forgotten treasures in the house. Like this weird game:

I LOVE hanging out with Andy, Celia, Benson, and Celia's mom, Gayle.

PS, Celia is officially engaged, in case you didn't get that by now. Wahoo!

A Magleby Wedding

2010-08-22T14:06:00.000-07:00

Andy's brother, Rob Magleby, got married this weekend to Tristan Camp. The Magleby's are so good at celebrations and events - tell you what!

Robbie and Tristan! Totally married.

Me and Andy-pants.

Dylan and Trevor.

{Painting by Brian Kershisnik.}

Baby Claudius was sooo done with the wedding.

Homestyle Haircut

2010-08-15T20:49:00.000-07:00

Before:

After: (He was anxious because he felt like he had hair all over and wouldn't pose for a picture.)

Allison!

2010-08-12T16:18:00.000-07:00

Allison and I live kind of far away, (she lives in Sandy), so we don't even get to see each other very often. Wah!

But the other day we got to hang out for 2 whole hours! Wahoo! We went cardigan and ribbon shopping for her wedding and out for ice cream at my new favorite place. (Provo is so great!)

Bear Lakin'

2010-08-12T14:25:00.000-07:00

Bear Lake facts and highlights:

Lots of girls!

1. This was my first time ever going to Bear Lake. I went with some dear friends from my home ward and I LOVED hanging out with them. They fed me delicious vegetarian food and cooked my garden burgers for me.

2. My thighs got sunburned. Boo.

Cheryl thought it was so crazy that I was eating ruffles while wearing a ruffly swim suit, so she wanted to document it.

3. Lindsee's board shorts caught on fire while they were hanging to dry. (Hilarious! Lindsee was CHAPPED.)

Megan, Jessica, Alyssa, Lindsee

Lindsee, Alyssa, Camla

4. Water sports made me so sore, it hurt to crank my steering wheel and raise my arm.

Tubing.

5. Went to Laketown's rodeo. (Poor little calves! I secretly love when the animals get away...)

Reese!

Chelsea!

6. I made it from Bear Lake to Provo all by myself, without even using the GPS!

7. It was my first time having trailers while camping. Loved that during the storm!

Cam buried in sand. And cutie Reese!

8. Slept in a tent with 6 others girls between the ages of 13 and 17. I felt old and boring since I actually wanted to fall asleep and not stay up forever chatting. Also heard lots of, "My friend, who by the way has THE hottest brother..."

cutie little sister mish!

2010-08-01T18:25:00.000-07:00

One of my bestie cousins, Kayla, FINALLY got her mission call to West Virginia. Soooo excited for her! Also so happy she's going state side so we can write long letters to each other like we did when we lived an hour apart in high school.

Recent Events

2010-07-30T19:58:00.001-07:00

We tried a delicious ice cream place my friend told me about called La Michoacana in Provo. They have flavors like dulche de leche, guava, and pine nut, in addition to regular flavors.

lars and andy

Niels got a mullet! I'm totally supportive.

Playing the game of "things" with these besties.

Lars (and all my brothers) get really excited when Allison comes over. I thought it was precious because Lars ran in and gave Allison a big hug.

Lars is totally attached to me and Andy. The other day, Andy and I were in the hammock and, per usual, Lars runs out with us. We're nice and let him sit with us even though 3 people is too many and too sweaty. When I went inside to get something, Lars was in my place when I got back and wouldn't move. I said, "Well, I guess I'll just hang out inside until you're done." Lars ran inside crying (didn't even mean to make him cry!) and when I went to talk to him, he just said, "You always do this!" I said, "Do what?" He said, "You don't let me sit by Andy!" I tried to explain that I like to be by Andy when he comes over since I don't get to see him all the time and teary Lars said, "I like him too, you know."

Poor cute Lars.

One reason Niels is funny.

2010-07-18T08:54:00.000-07:00

Niels solution to stop Kai from taking his clothes?

family grocery shopping and road trippin'

2010-07-15T18:20:00.001-07:00

The night before we headed home from Denver we went to the grocery store to get food for the car ride. The Faj Mahal was on a quest to buy healthy. Niels and Andy secretly put about 30 rolls of cookie dough in the cart and my dad was frantically shoveling them out of the cart and back onto the shelves. That really got us going into grabby, beggy mode.

Niels desperately wanted chips and the Faj refused to buy them. (Do you see how they're wrestling the bag of chips?) Lars grabbed for everything in sight.

So Niels bought his own chips and announced that no one better ask if they can eat any, because he would definitely not be sharing.

This is the Faj Mahal telling me, "You'd better not put any of these pictures on facebook."

The next day in the car, Niels started eating his chips and again announced that he wouldn't share with anyone. Then he decided to share with everyone EXCEPT my dad. My dad said, "Good! I don't want those filthy things anyway!" Then Niels felt bad and said, "No, I"m just kidding, Dad. You can have some." My dad grumpily insisted he didn't want any. Niels said, "That's it!", undid his seat belt and climbed to the front of the car and while my dad was driving, tried to put chips in his mouth and also kissed his cheek.

He acted chapped but we all know he secretly looooved it, even though it was dangerous.

On the car ride to Denver, I did most of the driving and played parent, since my dad flew in later to meet us. All of the sudden, Lars would burst into tears exclaiming that Niels or Finn hit him. I would then get after Niels or Finn and they would tell me how annoying Lars was being. On the way home, I sat by Lars most of the time and now I totally understand. He would hit the car window with a nickel. I would tell him to stop. Then he would hit the window with his bouncy ball. I would tell him to stop. Then he would hit it with his fist. Poor little bored guy - he was so annoying. But I still love him.

And Niels took winner pictures while in the car. Including my sweaty calves and weirdie face Finn.

Denver, Colorado

2010-07-13T15:19:00.000-07:00

My family (plus Andy) went to Denver for my Mortensen grandparents' sixtieth wedding anniversary. Kind of a big deal.

We love going to the Denver Art Museum (or DAM as Niels calls it, because poor little Lars is extremely sensitive and Niels moves him close to tears by often and unnecessarily saying "dam" and similar words.)

Andy and I. Andy is a GEM because he always holds my purses. And it doesn't even threaten his masculinity at all.

Cute boys.

The DAM group. (Cousin Dillon, Niels, Mom, Finn, Lars.)

In the contemporary art section, Lars came up to me and whispered very quietly, "I feel uncomfortable." I did a great job of steering him away from all the nudie statues.

Please enlarge this picture to look at Lars. I love his picture poses. So awesome and weird.

Family-ness. We had an anniversary party on Friday and a BBQ in the park on Saturday. It was great to see family (almost every member was there!) but nothing particularly blog-worthy.

The grandparents.

One of my bestie cousins, who just returned from his mission. I was punching him because he was telling me I looked extremely white. Which I don't mind, but he was saying it in a negative way.

Uncle Marlo and cousin Tristan; cousins Isaac, Marina, and Caitlin with cutie puppy.

Day trip to Boulder, a cutie mountain city close to Denver.

Lars was freaking out in the candy shop. Yanking my shirt saying, "Natalie! Natalie! Natalie! Remember these hamburger gummies?!" And asking if he could buy EVERYTHING.

Lars' candy of choice? Liquified warheads. Love his cutie sour faces.

Glacier ice cream.

the 4th

2010-07-04T15:47:00.000-07:00

The fourth of July is my favorite holiday. Provo is so great, but it is especially great during the 4th.

Cousins playing basketball.

Girl cousins - Charity, Kjirsten, Zoe, me.

Zoe looks like a creepy dinosaur!

Zoe and Sophie take a gross mouth picture. I could never be a dentist because mouths are usually very gross.

But Zoe really is sooo cute!

I LOVE this baby. (My cousin, Ian.)

Lydia and Niels.

Sage.

Revis, me, Finn, Harrison

Other 4th of July fun-ness:

- There was definitely 2 poo spots on my bathroom rug after everyone left. Love having lots of little kids running around the house!

- While we were watching fireworks, sprinklers went off in the park. Watching people scurry away from the water and the man who tried to stop the sprinkler with his foot was a little hilar.

- Cousin Zoe slept over with me and hilariously told me stories of things that have made her "want to hurl."

And I got to see my dear friends Rob and Rachel Grimmer. Rachel was my freshman year roommate. And Rachel's having a baby! Wahoo!

And I went to the Freedom Festival with one of my dear high school friends, Coryn Cope and ate delicious twisted 'taters. (I wish it was named something else...)

Such a mountain man...

2010-07-04T15:31:00.000-07:00

And on his way to this, as soon as he graduates...

(Just kidding, Andy.)

*Photo courtesy of google image search for Sam Bean.

Finn's Summer Non-Romance

2010-07-02T21:21:00.000-07:00

(Underwater picture of Finn from last summer.)

One time, a week ago, Finn and I plus tons of besties went swimming together. As Finn (who is 13) was trying to dunk me, this little girl (age 10 or so) came up to me and said, pointing to Finn, "Can I dunk him?" I said, "Sure, you can do whatever you want..." So she kind of chased him around the pool for a second and then swam away. Andy and I thought it was super funny, especially since Finn was so uncomfortable, but we let it drop. Then, out of no where, this girl comes back up to Finn. She wraps her arms around his neck and starts pushing/shoving his head underwater. Finn let himself go under very easily and said in a very non-enthusiastic voice, "Oh, you got me..." Then she swam away again. A couple minutes later she comes back to me and asks again, "Can I dunk him?" Again I say, "Sure, you can do whatever you want." She then began chasing him around the pool again, trying to dunk him. At one point maybe she was holding onto his shoulders and pushing on his chest with her feet. Awesome. I almost died of laughter. This pool chasing continued for about 4 minutes.

Then she left him alone for good. And we all made "Finn's girlfriend" jokes the rest of the day. We thought it was hilarious and we thought we were super funny, but Finn was totally uncomfortable and not amused.

Later we were telling my parents what happened, and chapped-hide Finn said, "Yeah and this all could have been avoided if Natalie had just said to the girl, 'Actually, I don't think he would like that very much...'"

It was SO WORTH having Finn be a little chapped at me and it was definitely the hardest I laughed in the whole month of June. I wish you all could have witnessed it, especially all of you who I have already told this story to and didn't even laugh very hard. I'm telling you - it was funny.

Teenage awkwardness is SO much better in swim suits!

One of my favorite pictures from when I lived with cousins Kayla and Kjirsten:

2010-07-01T15:38:00.000-07:00

This is why Lydia rocks:

2010-06-21T22:28:00.000-07:00

This is Lydia:

This is Lydia again:

(I stole these pictures of her facebook and couldn't decide which picture I liked better, so I took both.)

Lydia is my dear friend and even better friends with my brother, Niels, and she is the sweetest person alive. She gave me the coolest Christmas gift - an antique pendant she made into a necklace and a big, bright, awesome butterfly hair clip. She gave me a cloth bracelet one day because she was sick and had nothing better to do than to make bracelets for people. (What?? I know, right?) She gave me a cute pair of earrings she made the other day, for no reason! Tonight she brought by these adorable (and fuzzy - thank you camera phone) cupcakes (for no reason in particular, again) because she is the best.

Also, for the record, even if Lydia wasn't always showering me with gifts, I would still love her because she is so sweet and such a good, kind person.

d

Love her!

Happy father's day!

2010-06-20T17:07:00.000-07:00

Lars and the Faj Mahal.

Botchi Bag

2010-06-16T21:37:00.000-07:00

I was talking on the phone to one of my favorite cousins in the whole wide world (who I haven't talked to in forever), when the Faj Mahal told me to hurry up because "I really need your help testing something out." He came again 4 minutes later, so I got off the phone.

I go downstairs and the Faj is holding a little yellow bag. "Say you're out in the wilderness somewhere and you get stranded and its really cold. And say you just pull out your botchi bag..." So then he pulls out this bag and makes me sit underneath the bag with him. Each person sits on the bag so it is stretched around both of you, and it gets extremely hot. And we are never in such close physical proximity to each other. Then he wants to try it out with some poles. (That's when I ran and got my camera really quick because I thought it was a little bit funny.)

Then he gets extremely claustrophobic and struggles to break free. This is him struggling to get loose:

My dad is so great. And he loves his gear so much. Closets and shelves full so much.

Schmutzies

2010-06-10T20:39:00.000-07:00

So, one of my besties for life, Celia Jane Schmutz, got home from her mission last week. She got even cuter on her mission.

But seriously, she really IS super cute.

See? Cute even when she's still wearing missionary clothes.

I have loved having lots of Schmutz time - especially with the out of town Schmutzes - and it's so nice to have a best friend right down the street.

Clark and Kent try on belts from Argentina. So hot.

Clark singing to Celia about how kissing is no longer a sin for her and how she should totally kiss boys.

And just because she's smaller than me, she thinks she can pose in a girly way by wrapping her arm around my stomach, making me look manly. Awesome. I love it so much.

Kewl teens. (Especially Kent and Niels.)

Aren't Chent and the bf-ster so cute? I heart Andy's beard so much. He's so manly.