School is out...TIME TO PLAY!!!

Well, last week was the last week of school for the school district that I was substitute teaching for, so I basically have not had work for the last couple of weeks. Yes, it has been nice, but for those of you that know me, let's be honest...I love working and being busy. Too much break is not good for me. I got caught up on errands, cleaned my house thoroughly, even started packing some boxes for my move to Boston at the end of July, ran errands for other people, and have had lots of time to play with some of my favorite people. I have had several play dates with my cousin's little girl, Presley...I love getting her for whole days at a time. We enjoy sidewalk chalk, cupcake decorating, coloring books, bike rides, movies, swinging on my porch swing, playing at the park, and lately, we love swimming! There is a photo of me and her, the adorable blonde. Last weekend, I went with my roommate, Casandra, and some other cool people to Antelope Island. We enjoyed a gorgeous sunset, lots of bugs smashed and splattered on our windshield, and a good time around our campfire. I have also been riding bikes with Alex again, there are some photos of us, we actually stopped this time, and so we had our own photo shoot at Bridal Veil Falls...for some reason, we both struggled this ride, too much running lately, tired legs, not enough sleep...hmmm. Then there was the near attack of the giant dogs at the top of Provo Canyon, but we turned around REALLY FAST and escaped them on our downhill ride. The last picture, yes, I look drugged...it is the effects of allergies after several hours of cycling. My allergies have been horrible this week, and I am sure that people are convinced I must be really emotional-watery, puffy, red eyes and a runny nose. I went with my roommate, Shalene, to Lagoon tonight. It is Utah's attempt at an amusement park, and hey, several hours on rides for FREE with dinner included...fine by me! I am leaving tomorrow for my trips-1st stop: Texas, then London, next the Canary Islands (Tenerife, to be precise) and back to London for a bit...then I finally get back to Salt Lake on July 1st. Keep looking for my latest adventures. LOVE YALL!

Summer is coming...

...and that makes me so happy. Even though summer brings heat, here in Utah, it doesn't bring the humidity, and summer nights are cool. I love all the hiking and biking that I get to do up in the beautiful mountains, which are still really green and pretty from all the snow melt and all the rain we have had. I have still been teaching at some great schools and having lots of fun with elementary school kids; next week is their last week of school. In fact, on Friday, I subbed for a 2nd grade class that I have been with before, and I got to go on their field trip to Hogle Zoo with them. They are great kids, and were so excited about all the animals (even though to me, they are all a little depressing locked up in their cages and lame habitats). The kids thought it was hilarious when a bird pooped on my white capri pants halfway throught the morning, just my luck, but at least I could provide additional entertainment. I have been enjoying drive-in movies/outdoor movies with friends. On Memorial Day, even though it was raining all day, my roommate Shalene and I were stubborn and still went hiking like we had planned. It was a blast, even if we were soaked through, and we pretty much laughed at ourselves the whole time for being crazy and out in the rain, especially with all of our slipping and sliding in the mud. This morning, I headed to Provo where Alex and I biked up Provo Canyon, we went further then I have ever been, as far as you can go, right before you hit the Girl Scout Camp and you can't trespass. It was a gorgeous day, and I was doing great...Alex usually climbs the hills/mountains way better than I do, but I kept up and was having a great day. All in all, life is great. I only have 2 weeks until my vacations start...to Texas, then London, and then the Canary Islands! Then I am back in Utah for the month of July before heading to Boston. Life is great, have I said that?! Keep me posted on your adventures of summer! Love to all!

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

...my Dad came in town on Thursday, and so when I have not been teaching, we have been visiting Alex and Stacey (Alex's fiancee) to spend time together, to chat, and of course, to eat lots of good food. My Dad and I also went to my Ward Temple Night. After a good run this morning with my Dad, we met Alex and Stacey in Park City for the day. We did the zipline at the Olympic Park, the bobsled was a little pricey...it was lots of fun, then we enjoyed a yummy picnic that I made, complete with cupcakes for Stacey's birthday. Then we did some window shopping and art gallery exploring along Main Street in Park City. I am home while my Dad gets in a nap, I could really use one, but I am not much of a napper. My body is screaming at me, I have not been getting enough sleep this whole week...Well, enjoy the pictures. I hope the weather is as gorgeous wherever you are, it is perfect and sunny here, but not too hot and humid like some blessed places, hehe. Love y'all!

What you have all been waiting for...

...so many of you have been wondering where I have been and what my final decision is? I am sorry that life seems so crazy busy for me most of the time and I don't have enough hours in the day. I did go to New York two weekends ago. I had a wonderful time and stayed in Garden City, an adorable town on Long Island, with a friend of my mom's that she knew while living in London. I enjoyed the sites of the city, good company with the family I was staying with, and well, Columbia is an amazing school with a beautiful campus. I was honestly thinking while I was there...do I really belong here? This is Columbia, wow! My advisor was a great guy, and he is top in his field, as are all of the professors at the university. I just didn't feel as at ease and as at peace with myself the whole time. In Boston, I loved every aspoect of it and just felt great there. I could totally see myself there the whole time. With Columbia, I do not want to be in debt thousands of dollars, and I just don't see myself living in New York City as a 24-year old Caucasian girl who is single. So it is off to Boston I go! Having made my decision, everything is falling into place. It didn't seem like housing would work out quite right, but everything is falling into place perfectly for a place in Brookline, the neighborhood that I wanted to be in; it's closest to BU (Boston University). It looks like I will probably be on my way to Boston around the beginning of August. Yeah! I am so excited about everything...change is really hard for me, but I know it is really good for me, and I know that I will have some awesome experiences and opportunities there. I have just been playing catch-up, subbing for my same 3rd graders-they are fun kids, and enjoying Salt Lake. My mom was in town for 2 days last weekend, and I had tons of fun playing with her, and spending time with Alex and Stacey (my future sister-in-law), too. Well, hope this is what you wanted to know...love to all!

Cycling with Alex

Well, my younger brother, Alex and I are back to doing what we love most...cycling. We did it lots together before our missions, and mostly rode up Provo Canyon. We ventured out once this year, but it was still too cold and quite icey. Yesterday was a beautiful day, I met him at his apartment in Provo, and we rode out towards Springville and then all the way up Hobble Creek Canyon. It was fun, and there were no falls and no concussions, so no one needs to worry about me! Alex-I look forward to more riding this summer. I do have to admit, if I moved to Boston, I would miss the canyons and the mountains that I love so much, but there are plenty of other awesome things in Boston, that I think I could still manage. If anyone is ever our way in Utah and is up for some cycling, let us know. I love yall!

I LOVED BOSTON!

Well, as many of you know, I flew to Boston last Saturday, April 12 and came back to Salt Lake on Tuesday night, April 15. I absolutely loved it! It was a wonderful experience. Saturday night I enjoyed walking around the neighborhood of Brookline, I was staying in a charming little bed and breakfast in that part of the city. There were college kids everywhere, friendly faces, lots of yummy restaurants, pretty Victorian houses, and well, to be honest, a lot of the architecture, churches, cathedrals, etc reminded me of London. Then on my long walk, it started pouring rain, also very London-esque. Sunday I got up to go to Church at one of the single's wards and I found the building completely locked...great. To my surprise, a really nice guy came up and asked if I was looking for one of the single's wards, and then informed that today was Stake Conference and that the meeting would be outside of the city at 3 pm...of course, my luck...but I was super impressed. He proceeded to offer to find me a ride if I wanted to go to the meeting. So I went home, changed into comfortable clothes and walked all over the city. I walked along the Freedom Trail all the way to Quincy Market, seeing lots of historic sites and cool buildings along the way. They did get a ride for me to Stake Conference, and then I spent the rest of the evening with some people from the Single's ward, and went to an awesome musical fireside put on by some of the young singles adults that night. So up til then I was way impressed with Boston, the people, and well, I just loved the city. I love that you can walk everywhere. Well, things only continued to go really well on Monday and Tuesday as I met with my academic advisor and some other graduate students. My program would be perfect for me and I would have lots of neat opportunites while I am there, and then post-graduation as well. I spent a lot of time walking around the city, window shopping, etc. I met a cool greek guy that has been to my favorite restaurant in Salt Lake City-Aristos, its Greek food. People are out running all the time, love it...and it is a bike friendly city, so I would save lots on transportation costs. I was sad to leave, but am 99.9% positive that it is where I am supposed to be. Great opportunities keep coming my way too, and it looks like with my scholarship and a couple of different possibilities for graduate assistantships there, that I could at least break even without thousands of dollars in debt...or I could be in excess with scholarship, tuition reimbursement, and stipends, that I could come out making thousands of dollars for going to school. I am off to New York this week to check out Columbia University...I am not sure that I will love it as much as Boston, but I will let you all know.

General Conference, Mission Reunions, etc.

One of my absolute favorite companions flew in on Thursday, Hermana Mayo, also known as Sharon these days. I went to dinner at my favorite restaurant in Salt Lake with her and some of her other friends on Thursday night. It is this Greek restaurant called Aristo's up on 1300 East. (The picture is Sharon and I, my hair...don't mock it, I went in to Paul Mitchell School last Friday...and well, it's not quite what I had in mind...a little too golden, I am still working with it!) Then Friday night, I went to Alex's mission reunion here in Salt Lake to hear him sing 2 great musical pieces with some other elders from his mission. After that, I rushed south to Lindon for my own Mission Reunion where I got to see plenty of familiar faces. I loved my mission, and for those of you that don't know...I am going back to Las Islas Canarias this summer, in June, with my sister and her family...we will be on the last island that I served on, Tenerife. Yeah! It was great to see old companions, elders and hermanas that I served with, and President and Hermana Craig. Now I am spending the weekend enjoying General Conference. I love this Church, I love its teachings, and I am so grateful for all of the blessings and for all of the happiness that come into my life from being a member. I spent today in the Tabernacle watching the sessions; I realized last night this might be my last time in Utah for General Conference for a while...I decided to enjoy it on Temple Square. I love all of you!