The Travel Itch

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am dying to travel the whole world multiple times over. I have been lucky enough to travel a few times, but I have a whole list of places that I am still dying to go, and I would also gladly go and revisit the places I have already been. Today, I am having one of those days that I wish I could win the lottery so that I would have money to go and travel wherever I wanted.

Here is my list of places I am currently wanting to go (in no particular order):

MOZAMBIQUE



I have wanted to go and do humanitarian aid in Africa for years, and this week the urge is even greater!! There is a great organization called Care for Life, and if everything plays out the way I would like it to, I will be going to Mozambique with them next summer for 3 weeks :)

THAILAND



I think Thailand sounds beautiful and fascinating. It is a culture soooo different from the United States and I think it would be an awesome adventure to go. I also have a dream to ride an elephant, which could be accomplished here! It could also be accomplished in the next place on my list.

INDIA



Maybe I have watched too many Bollywood movies, but I think India would be the coolest place to visit!!! I love Indian food, I think that their culture is beautiful, and I think I would definitely buy an authentic Indian outfit there because I think they are so beautiful.

IRELAND



Why? Have you ever seen PS I Love You? It makes Ireland look so romantic and beautiful. I think it would be a fun place to stay for a few days, get to know the people, go to a pub (not to drink of course, sheesh) and soak in the culture!

GREECE



After seeing this picture, do I really need to say anymore? My dream is actually a Mediterranean Cruise because it would hit so many beautiful places.

FLORENCE, ITALY



I have been to Venice, and I loved it so much. I have always had a fascination with Italy in general, but I think that I would love to go to Florence most of all. It used to be that Pompeii was my number one spot, but honestly, as awesome as it sounds, I would rather see the beauty of Florence.



*sigh....well, maybe one day my dreams will come true

Craaaaaazy Lady

This lady has now called in twice while I have been in work today, and she is literally crazy. She started saying random years, numbers, and then told me to keep it on record. Here are examples of what she told me:

"0-7-4-5-6-8-3-7-1 and the initial with that is M, ok? Now, July 27th. And thenext one is August 192. Then we have December 1-9-2-6-7-9. Then we have December 1-9-9-3 and the number with that is 6-7-9.........Next is January 2-0-0-2 which means it is 8-5-1, then December 2-0-0-2 which is 8-6-2 (etc, etc)"

She then proceeded to give me the number for the Social Security office and told me to wait for someone to answer, because eventually they would. All I had to do was wait. She continued on with the dates and random numbers and then told me to make a copy and send it into the Supreme Court and also keep it on record. She told me to send it in to Jurisdoctor Clarence Thomas and to call the Supreme Court to get the address and I could call them by calling information. She instructed me to have the person having him sign for this delivery to make note of what the Honorable Clarence Thomas was wearing when he signed for the package, and also what his hair color was, his facial expressions, his facial color, and any distinctive marks. She also told me to make a copy and give it to my best friend because you better have it when you go to court.

Very polite and sweet lady.....but completely off her rocker. I wonder why she wanted all of that information about the good judge? And if she wikipedia'd him, she would get many of those questions answered.

She called back about 10 minutes later and said,
"Hi, I wanted to give a message to the Senator. 1-9-9-1 is the first one, and after that is 1-9-9-2 and after that is 1-9-9-3 and after that is 1-9-9-4 and after that is 1-9-9-5 and after that is 1-9-9-6 and after that is 1-9-9-7 and that is 1-9-9-8 and then it is 1-9-9-9 and then it is 1-9-9-10 and then it goes back to 1-9-9-2. Thank you so much."

I am extremely glad and grateful she called in to tell me the order of the years and some random numbers. I should have told her that I had already delivered her message to the supreme court and that Clarence Thomas was black with white hair and was wearing a black robe. I'm sure she would have appreciated that very much.

One of those days

Today I am missing Vanessa like crazy. I couldn't tell you what specifically brings these bouts on, but today it is pretty rough. I have been thinking about her all day, a lot of times on the verge of tears. I keep thinking about us dancing in our rooms late at night, or when we would write each other on facebook while sitting next to each other, or how we would laugh over the stupidest things, or how Vanessa found lots of things that I said really funny that no one else would. I wear a bracelet everyday with a V on it to feel like I have a little bit of her with me at all times, and as nice as that is, I am really wanting Vanessa around today. I want to tell her a bedtime story or sing her a song to whatever genre of music she decides. I want to jump on her in her bed and just lay on her until she complains enough that I get off. I wish she was around to talk about boys with, and to discuss my future and all of the crazy decisions I have to make in my life. I would love to hear all about her mission and see how much she had grown and see her be the best elementary school teacher in the world. I am still a little sad that when I am married with children, we won't be able to have our children be friends, and I wish that Vanessa would be here to meet my husband and give me her approval. It's hard when I see things and think, "that would be a perfect present for Vans" or when I hear something funny and want to immediately tell her.

Love you forever Vans. Just wanted you to know that I miss you and think about you all the time. You definitely made me a better person and I could never have imagined a better friendship than the one that we have.

Doubts

A few weeks ago in fast and testimony meeting, a man that I did not expect wisdom to come from gave me something to really think about. He started by talking about how he plays Dungeons and Dragons and how he compared himself to his characters because they worshipped God and he would try to see who worshipped God better....needless to say, it was a rough start to a testimony. All I could do was inwardly roll my eyes and brace myself for anything else that could possibly come out of his mouth....because it could have been anything. He surprised me when he started talking about doubts. He then said something that I will hopefully never forget, he said, "I have learned that when I have doubts, to doubt the doubts before doubting the church". That really resonated with me. This is such a great way to look at the doubts that come into our mind for whatever reason. Why not doubt the doubts rather than first doubting the church and it's teachings?

Decisions, decisions

Next year I may be attending the U or Utah State getting a 2nd Bachelors in Music. It feels even closer because I just sent in my applications, fees and all, to both institutions. Applying to school again feels odd, but I'm excited for the future. I have really missed school. The learning, the atmosphere, and strangely the homework!

I am also debating between working EFY again next summer and serving a performing mission in Nauvoo next summer.

So many choices. Anyone have an 8 ball I could borrow to make all these life changing decisions?!

Boy Language vs. Girl Language

Boy Language:
"Wanna go out this weekend"
translation: "Wanna go out this weekend"

Girl Language:
"Sorry, I can't"
translation: "I don't want to go out with you"
"Sorry, I can't, but let's do something some other time (or any variation of this)"
translation: "I would love to but I really can't this weekend"

I'm sorry boys, but girls are a lot more complicated than you. You need to learn girl language if you want to not be completely frustrated in dating. We know that you just mean what you say, but we say things thinking the implication is clear, when usually it's not. I have realized that I often speak girl expecting boys to get it, and after chatting with my brother and dad last night I realize that I may just have to hit boys over the head to let them know if i'm interested/not interested.

Tip for boys: If a girl says she is busy more than 2 times without offering to reschedule, just drop it. It's her way of 'nicely' letting you down. After 4 times, it's just rough on both of you.

Whoops....

You know it's gonna be one of those days when:

You show up to work wearing these:


When everyone else is wearing this:

Even though it's casual Friday because the Senator is in town. Sigh.