Happy Halloween

Julia and Me

Safari Guide and Flapper

The two crocodile hunters and the safari guide

The two crocodile hunters

Julie and Me

Candycorn fangs

Nine years of graveyard baked goods

Summer Highlights

Hikes:

I went on a few hikes this summer. I really enjoyed being in the outdoors with friends. We hiked to a few hot springs and waterfalls.

Outings:

One thing I love about summer up here is that people are a lot more social. We had a lot of game nights, movie nights, and various outings. Here is a picture of Darin and Alisha at our Pioneer Day Celebration.




Tim Tam Slam:

Andrew and Blake

Blake was a guy in my ward who just got home from serving his mission in Japan. We had talked about Tim Tams and Tim Tam Slams. So, I went and purchased a few packages and invited people over for a Tim Tam Slam. It was fun to see people's different reactions to slamming.

Carrie slamming

When a tim tam slam goes wrong

Oquirrh Mountain Open House:

The Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house was this summer. I went with my roommate, Ashley, and former roommate, Shelece, who was up in Provo for a conference. It was a very pretty temple.

Relief Society:

I had the opportunity to serve as first counselor in the Relief Society Presidency this summer. I loved serving with Taylor, Kaitlyn, Alisha, and Kat. I loved meeting with each individual girl during visiting teaching interviews. We had heaps of fun this summer, but were relieved when we were released. Here is a picture from our sleepover enrichment activity.

Birthdays:

Quite a few of my friends had birthdays this summer as well. One of them was Azul, who is also a big rugby fan. I made her a cake and decorated it like a rugby field. It's certainly not as fancy as the cakes my sister, Kate, used to make for my birthdays, but I've got to start somewhere.

Homecoming:

The Elders that I started my mission with came home this summer. It has been fun to catch up with. I went to Elder Tyson Davis' homecoming.

Intramural Games:

I attended many intramural games that people in my ward participated in. The video is after the last game was of the ultimate Frisbee team (and yes, that is me screaming in the background). I actually helped decorate the banner on a group date.

Dates:

I went a few dates this summer. Some, I've already mentioned. It was funny because most of dates were with guys from the same apartment. I ended up going on dates with 4 of the 5 guys in that apartment. Toward the end of the summer, my ward set up a tie date. What happens is that guys bring their ties to an apartment. The next night, girls come over and select a tie that has a number, the day and time of the date attached to it. The person in charge tells you who that number belongs to. Then the girl has to do two acts of anonymous service for her date through out the week. Along with my date's day and time, it also told me to wear blue. So I made chocolate chip cookies and dyed them blue. I then got a package of glow in the dark stars because my date, Peter, loves astronomy. I thought it was funny because the tie I selected happened to belong to a guy in the apartment I mentioned. I just couldn't get away from them. The theme for that night was colors. We all made dinner, but our assignment had to be in the color that we were wearing. Peter and I made blueberry muffins and blue mashed potatoes for our side dish. The guys rolled out a piece of butcher paper and we finger painted. Then we played twister. It was an awesome night.

Weddings:

My good friend (and former roommate) Melissa got married this summer in the new Draper Temple. Now it's just Nikki and me that are left.

Jeannette, a friend from high school, also got married in August. I was able to go to her bachelorette party while I was home.

Going home:

My sister Kate and her family were home the same time I was. We did many activities for Ellie-Jane (it was fun to act like a kid again). I have to admit, I thought it was rather humorous to have five adults participating in an activity for one kid. I felt like we were Ellie-Jane's entourage. Here is Ellie-Jane feeding the horses by our house.

My Golden Birthday

My birthday was this past month. I loved getting calls from my family and catching up with them. My birthday was pretty low key. I went to my first day of anatomy (take 2) and got ready for the next day's lab. I made cakes for a little get together I was having that night. I got an apron (which I used when I made my cakes), an armband for my ipod for when I work out (which I used while I burned off the calories I consumed while eating the cakes), the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Game, and a visa gift card from my parents. Thanks Mum & Dad!! So that evening, I had a few friends over. We basically just snacked on food and talked. It was wonderful to see people I hadn't seen in a while. I would have to admit, the best birthday present I got was a pavola that Stephen made for me. Pavola is a dessert that they have in New Zealand. It's a rather tricky thing to make, so I amazed that he spent the time to make it (I found out later it took him 3 hours to make it). My friend, Michelle, from Wellington thought it was amazing, so that just shows just how good it was. I got a few more present from friends: a book, a cook book, and a few other little things. Overall, it was a great birthday.

Katie and Me

Michelle and Me

Dates & the MTC

I love summer time. People are a lot more social here. I've gone to a lot of game nights and movie nights. I've hosted a few of them. My roommate Ashley works for the school newspaper and so doesn't get off work until about 10 and Shelece has gone home for the summer. This has forced me to reach out and meet new people. I'm also in a dinner group, which is great because it's not people I would have normally associated with on a regular basis.

I went on a few dates recently. Two with my home teacher, Darin. The first date was a dinner and game date. We were in a group of about 8 people. Each of us were given an assignment for the dinner (main dish, side dish, salad & drink, and dessert). The kicker was, that it had to be under $5. We then went to Smith's and had 30 minutes to get our stuff without letting the other couples see what we were getting. We then went back the guy's apartment and made dinner. After that we played a murder mystery game. On the second date, we went canoeing. Darin and I were by far the slowest. Fortunately, Darin is the least competitive of his roommates and we had a pretty good time.

My other date was with Will. Will trained my roommate's missionary. He and I got home about the same time. What happened was that the week before, Ashley tried to put together a big group to go to the hot springs. Well, it turned out being Ashley, John (her missionary), Will, and me. Will and I walked a lot faster than John and Ashley, so we spent the entire hike just talking to each other. I had a lot of fun. We had talked about the planetarium on campus and how it did shows every weekend. The Tuesday after we went to the hot springs, Will called me up and asked me to go to the planetarium with him. So we went and the show was an hour long, so we were done by 8. We went and got ice cream and sub-zero. I have to admit, I prefer the creamery or coldstone, but the idea is cool.

I had a two other psuedo-dates. Another time when I went to the hot springs, I met these two guys, Scott and Stephen. I heard Scott talking and I heard he had an accent. I asked him where he was from and said he was from Melbourne, Australia. He and I were talking and I asked him if there was any food that he missed from Australia. He said that he could go for a tim tam. To make a long story short, he got my number and I ended up dropping tim tams off to his house. The day before I dropped off the tim tams, he asked if I played tennis. I told him that I had played three times. I drove over to his house and we rode on bikes to the tennis courts. Well, he caught on pretty quickly that I really didn't know how to play tennis at all. We played until I hit all six balls out of the court. I was so embarrassed. I told him before I wasn't very good and he said it was all right because he just mucks around. He didn't tell me in advance that he played for a season in high school. The tennis game ended up turning into a tennis lesson. We haven't really done anything since. I've texted him a few times and he responded a week later, apologizing that he hasn't been responding because things have been busy. He's now back in Australia to get his visa.

The other pseudo-date was with Stephen. We were at a party a few weeks after I met and everyone else was going to see movies. I didn't want to spend any money, so opted out. Stephen was in the same position, so we went for a drive. It was nice to be able to chat and get to know him in a very low key setting.

So, I went in for my teacher evaluation at the MTC last month. While I was on my mission, I thought it would be great to go and teach there after I was done. But when I came home early, things changed. I thought I'd never be hired because I had been medically released. My friend, Michelle (the one from NZ), told me I should at least try. So, I decided that if someone was going to determine that I wasn't good enough to teach at the MTC it was going to have to be someone else. I shouldn't be the one holding myself back from opportunities. I filled out the application and I freaked out a little when it said that it was going to ask for a recommendation from my mission president. For the initial interview was a teacher evaluation, which meant I was going to have to teach a 10-minute lesson from Preach My Gospel. I actually canceled my teacher evaluation twice. I was so concerned about being perfect. I finally just decided that I was going to see it as if I was preparing to teach Sunday School and it was an opportunity to teach. I thought it was going to be a group of us doing the teacher evaluation together and that we would take turns teaching. Well, it turns out that it was just me in the room with two teachers and I had to present my lesson to them. Now, I've taught classes from as little as 5 girls in temple prep to 110 people in gospel doctrine. I don't like teaching just two people (especially when I prepare for a larger group). It turns out one of them was kiwi (from New Zealand), more specifically from Auckland. It didn't go as smooth as I would have liked, but it's done. I felt like the only part that went well was when I started to really teach by the spirit and not so worried about my lesson plan. I think that helped when I re-did a 2 minute part of my lesson. About an hour and a half, I got this e-mail from the MTC saying, "This email is to inform you that you are ranked somewhere in the mid-range of all qualified applicants. This means that you could be hired, but there are a significant number of applicants likely to be hired before you." Well, I'm happy with that. I wouldn't have been able to accept a job at the MTC anyway because of my intense summer term schedule. The fact that I was even considered a qualified applicant made me satisfied. I'm glad that I did it. I'm glad that I conquered my fear.

March Maddness

This month has been a crazy one due to papers, projects, and activities. I had a huge paper due in my assessment in therapeutic recreation class. I was so proud of myself for not procrastinating the paper, however, I found out 2 days before the paper was due that I was doing it wrong. So, I had to start from scratch. That was crazy, but it got done on time.

Our adopted roommate, Tim, invited us to dinner at his house. We went to SLC before heading to Tooele to Tim's house. It was wonderful to have a delicious, home-cooked meal. Tim's family was amazing. We played games after dinner and had heaps of fun. I hope I get along with my in-laws as well as I did with Tim's family.

I went to 5 rugby games during the month of March. Towards the end, I found out that girls from my FHE group were going to the games as well. It was nice because then I didn't have to drag a roommate along with me (or go alone). Some of the other missionaries from the NZWM would come and see Adam (a NZW Missionary) play. It was fun to see them as well.

As a student council, we hosted an activity for the students in our department. We had our department chair and two professors come and talk to us. We got to know them better as they talked about their lives and how they got into this profession. We then got to ask them questions (more advice than about their own lives). I thought it was really helpful and the other students who attended did too.

We had the department annual scholarship banquet at the end of March. It was neat because I received a scholarship for my service on the student council. I was surprised when I got the call that I had received it because I didn't apply for a scholarship. I was thinking about but figured I wouldn't get it, so I didn't apply. The scholarship I received turned out to double the scholarship I was thinking about applying for. I was so grateful.

Chris and Lindy's Wedding

Yesterday I went to my MTC companion's wedding. It was the first live sealing I had seen in English. I met Lindy's mom before the ceremony and she came up and gave me a big hug and she said, "Lindy was so excited to find out that you were coming." It was so great to know how much Lindy wanted me to be apart of her day.

It was a three and a half hour drive to get out to Lindy's wedding. She asked me earlier this week if I would be willing to give a girl who was in one of the wards she had served in down in New Zealand. I was a little nervous because I thought we weren't going to much to say and it was going to be super awkward for seven hours. We ended up talking for all way there and all the way back. It was so awesome. We're hoping hang out soon.

It was wonderful to see Lindy again. I hadn't seen the day we were leaving our first area and I was running after the train she was on. :-) It was so beautiful to be reunited in the temple. The ceremony was so simple and sweet. I cried. I'm so excited for her and Chris!

Lindy and Chris

Michelle (the girl I traveled with), me, and McKay (one of the Elders that both Lindy and I served around)

It was so fun to meet Lindy's family. She talked about them all the time. Such an amazing family!

They completely transformed the cultural hall

New Zealand girls! Me, Lindy, and Michelle

Me and my soa!

Valentine's and Things

My roommates (and Tim, our adopted roommate) went to go see "Thoroughly Modern Millie." It's one of my favorite musicals.

As a student council, we had a guest lecturer come and speak to us. We had Deborah come and speak to us about Animal Assisted Therapy. I was mainly running around getting things ready, but the parts that I listened to were really helpful. Deborah brought two standard poodles with her.

I had my year mark from when I came home from my mission. It was interesting to see how much had changed and what still hasn't. :-)

Valentine's Day was great! I really wanted to make sure I wasn't sitting home by myself, eating ice cream, watching a chick flick, and wondering why my life wasn't like that. For Valentine's day, my roommates and I ordered a heart shaped pizza from a local pizzeria. Then, that night, we had a fondue party. It was great to see friends I hadn't see in a while. We then watched the least romantic movie we could find, TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). :-) I have to say it was the best Valentine's ever (no boyfriend required).

The First Month of 2009

This semester has to be the busiest one of my college career. I taking courses higher up in my major and just require heaps of reading and memorizing. I'm also the president of the student council for my department and I'm amazed at how much time it takes up. I'm also on the Dean's council. I meet with the Dean of our college and the other department student presidents. The only downfall to that is the 7:00 AM meetings every other Wednesday (that's also the day I have class until 6:30 :-P).

I have officially given into the social norm: I own an ipod. I bought a third generation nano because they were on sale since the fourth generation has come out. I bought it so it would entertain me as I worked out. It has great a great distraction.

My roommate, Ashley, turned 21 this month. The celebration lasted 4 days. It started out with dinner at Fudruckers on Friday. On Saturday, we went to Spark, a lounge that sells non-alcoholic drinks. On Sunday, we had a nice dinner. On Monday, we made breakfast. On Tuesday (her actual birthday), we made her a cake and Ashley opened presents.

So I have a new obsession, rugby. I never saw a real rugby game while I was in New Zealand. I have a mission buddy who is on the rugby game for our school. It was just a scrimmage, but it was amazing. I love this game. While I still don't fully understand all the rules, it's quite a fun game to watch. If you want to understand this amazing game check this website out.

I had a reunion with the girls that I went down to St. George with. We had heaps of fun catching up. We watched Dan in Real Life.

December Highlights

So it has been a pretty crazy two months. It has been nice to be done with school. It was a crazy end of the semester. I was trying to finish volunteer hours for abnormal psychology, write papers, tests, presentations, and then finals. Here I am with my project for Introduction to Therapeutic Recreation. It went through over 500 sheets and an ink cartridge. It was insane but I got 100% on it.

There were many parties to celebrate Christmas and the end of the semester. I'm on the student council for my major and we had a Christmas breakfast. We told the students that we'd have waffles and pancakes. We had enough of the mix and enough griddles and waffle makers, unfortunately, we blew all the fuses in the room (including the one for the computer so our Christmas music was gone). So, we ended up having one griddle and one waffle maker going in the hallway. We were suppose to have one of the members of the faculty dress up as Santa, but the person responsible to bring the costume slept passed his alarm. It was crazy! Definitely a learning experience.

I'm in the Relief Society Presidency and so we planned a Christmas party. We had house making but instead of using ginger bread, we used wafers and frosted mini wheats. There were a few bumps getting ready for that event but it turned out pretty well.

John and Edna had their twin girls blessed in Edna's parent's ward. It was great to be able to attend.

We had everyone home for Christmas. It was a bit crazy having 11 adults and 4 babies in the house, but it was fun. We definitely did not do the Hallelujah chorus run. That stampede would have been very dangerous.

I went with my friend, Samantha, to a pajama New Year's Eve party at the institute. I think that was one of the better New Year's Eves that I've celebrated. We watch the movie "The Fall", played games, and brought in the New Year with sparkling cider.

Thanksgiving

It was great to have family for Thanksgiving even thought our numbers were pretty low this year. Here is the one picture I got from Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, Uncle Pat was not being very cooperative.