Terrible Tuesday.

Okay, so it really isn't terrible but it has been an adventure day.

Remember that one time, two years ago where I had the most boring job on the planet?

Well, I'm back.

I've been here since 10:45 ish this morning and I'm here until 5.

And they literally just called me while I was writing that sentence and they want me for tomorrow, and maybe Thursday. Perfect.

Felicia, the girl who normally works here, is sick with Strep throat. And it's perfect because I am not nannying for the Hastens this week either so I'm free as a bird.

This job also pays better than that AND it's so dang close to my house.

The downfall is that it is so boring.

What have I done all day you might ask?

Facebook.

Caught up on blogs.

Read boring news stories.

Tried to text people and be entertained.

Facebook.

Oh yeah, and sorted like three days worth of mail. Ew.

And now I'm blogging.

But, I walked in this morning and I was seriously blown away.

This place is a disaster zone.

Garbage everywhere.

Random paper and clutter everywhere.

Food all over (And like smashed chips/crackers in the carpet).

Overflowing garbage cans.

Etc.

It's disgusting. I don't know how someone can work in this environment.

Time to go clean.

Monday Funday.

Today was a splendid day.

Actually, scratch that, this week is going to be the most splendid week.

Lemme elaborate.

Today I got to wake up at 6:30 for a babysitting job at 7:30. (The Jerusalem Center lifestyle has luckily taught me how to get ready really fast while looking presentable but also not caring what I look like. So exactly half of that hour was used for getting ready (getting dressed in the dark, eating breakfast, waiting for Shmackaley to get home from Seminary, getting all my stuff ready, etc) while the other half was used for driving to Menlo Park.)

I then babysat a super cute little 18-month year old. She and I became friends. Except for some reason, I was very sneezy today and everytime I would have a sneezing fit, she would get super freaked out and start to cry. Which reminded me of this funny video.

But at about 12:15, we got ready to go over to the Garff's. We packed up all the stuff we needed (diapers, water, snacks, carseat, etc) and then we drove across town.

As planned, Eden fell asleep in the car on the way over because she's a little sick PLUS it was past her nap time. And I played some Taylor Swift quietly in the car over. Right to sleep!

And when I got to the Garff's Andrew was also asleep so I got to have a nice little break for like 45 minutes while the two ninos were sleeping.

Eden then woke up at 1:30 and I then read her every single book that was accessible. Her mom picked her up at 2:30 and then not more than 5 minutes after they left, Andrew woke up and I read him those same books.

It was so cute because Andrew is my new little best friend. He is always so well behaved, even after he has been so bad for his mom. He and I are buddies and everytime I got over there, I try to teach him my name and today when I was leaving he said "Bye, Danielle" and he actually pronounced it really well. SO PROUD. :)

And. let's just say, I should babysit in Menlo Park all the time because I can charge a whole lot more, which was also a perk. Plus, getting done at 3 is super nice. I wish that this was everyday. haha

But, tomorrow and Wednesday, I don't have my normal nannying job (which I'm actually a little happy about, even though it means I don't get money) and then Thursday and Friday are also currently free (except my favorite Friday night job with the Garffs). Which leaves us with Saturday.

Saturday morning, I get to go to Oakland and fly to Utah. Which is strange that I'm so excited to go to.... Provo. haha

Suzy Q. is picking me up at the airport which I am BEYOND excited about. Love that girl.

And I honestly can't remember the last time that someone I know has actually picked me up at that airport. Usually I'm either a) going to Rexburg so I just hop right on that shuttle or b) am a hobo so I take the free shuttle to Temple Square and then eventually I find my way to my destination. haha so this is going to be quite strange to have someone actually greet me at the airport. But it's going to be marvelous.

Then later that evening, we're having a JC reunion at the Ludlow cabin, which'll be great (mostly because I'll FINALLY be reunited with Charlotte. YIPPEEEE!)

So yes, in a nutshell, this week is going to be fab.

I'm also planning on going back on pinterest for the first time since December 12th on Wednesday. It's going to be a momentous occasion.

Operation: Utah.

Remember how that one time I was going to go to Utah?

I was going to drive out with some people in the ward and then fly back to sunshine?

And I booked my flight to come home and everything?

WELL, the day after I booked my flight to come back home, we got a call from the Patsfitricks saying that they changed Beej's missionary assignment. WHAT? They are putting him in an new intensive pilot program and he'll enter the MTC on the 22nd instead of the 8th.

SO that put a little damper on my plans.

But I decided that since I am going to start working on February 20th, this was my one opportunity to have a little vacation.

AND Junior is planning a SWEET reunion at the Ludlow cabin for this Saturday, I don't want to miss that!

So I booked a flight out there last night. It's really official.

And being the gem she is, Suzy is picking me up at the airport. EEEEEK! I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself.

So yes, I'm not entirely sure what my plans are going to be but I'll be in Provo.

While skyping my hubs, I asked him for advice on things to do in P-town. And he tried to talk it up by telling me that there was "so much to do there" and then he was like "...wellll, you can go bowling." Great. He did tell me to go sledding... somewhere. haha I don't remember what he said but I guess that's a good option.

So yes, if any of you lovely blog followers know of anything fun to do in Provo, lemme know. Or if you want to hang out or want me to stay are you apartment and sleep on your couch, that's always a welcome idea too.

Yippeeee!

Warning: this might be too much information for people.

So, super randomly on Wednesday, I got sick.

And normally I can handle being sick because it involves having a sore throat and a headache or whatever. And I just lay around and feel bad but not too bad.

Well, unfortunately, that isn't the kind of illness that I had this week.

I was babysitting on Wednesday and at around 1, I started to feel a little nauseous but I only had a couple more hours of working and I didn't want to leave early because the mom (of the kid I was watching) had "food poisoning" and I didn't want to make her deal with the nino when she didn't feel good.

Well, since she was home all day long, she let me leave a little bit early (at like 4:40 instead of 5) and so I drove home, feeling worse and worse, I came home and I went to bed.

I thought laying down would make me feel better but nope.

Instead I got the stomach flu and let's just say I lost any nutrients that I would've consumed that day. I think I lost like 7 lbs. But I was SO thirsty and weak which was super annoying. Luckily, I only threw up for 6 hours but it was still horrible. I can only remember throwing up a total of 3 times in my entire life... and the other night I more than quadrupled that number. :( WHICH, if you know me, is saying a lot because that is my least favorite thing in the world.

ANYWAY, the following day, I still felt under the weather but I was STARVING all day long. I would eat and I would still be so hungry. So I'm not really sure what happened to my body but I guess it's good that it got over it so quickly. :) I've had a couple days of rest and very quick easy babysitting job (for my FAVORITE kids). And today is going to be a shopping adventure day.

I mean, after we planned our little summer vacation, skyped with the husband in Jerusalem, and waited patiently for Shmackely to get home from babysitting.

p.s. I tried to convince my parents to take us back to Israel this summer. Surprisingly, it worked more than I thought it would. Just not enough to make it happen. haha They all just think I want to go so back so that I can see Josh/the Ludlows. haha such a silly idea...

It's Happening.

Ladies and Gentlemen (but mostly ladies cause boys don't read this blog),

Trip to Provo is happening.

Driving out on the 4th.

Flying back on the 9th.

Partying all week long.

It's going to be the bomb. I seriously can't wait to be reunited with all my Jru lovers*.

And let's not forget the double date I have planned already with Mark & Danielle on Thursday night. They're driving me to the airport, Nicole and I are taking them to dinner. Perf.

Eeeeeeeeeeek! So exciting.

This trip is going to be eventful for many reasons though:

I've never been excited to go to PROVO.

I've never made the Bay ---> Utah drive before. (This is a major milestone).

I've never felt like the Biebs but I have a feeling that I will then. Or maybe I'm expecting too much.

And I bet there's more.

But, to all those lovely readers of this blog, if you would like to see me/want me to sleep on your couch/whatever, lemme know. I'm not going to be homeless but it might be fun to be a little hobo and couch hop or whatever. Plus, who doesn't want a fun little distraction from homework for a little while? No one.

So yes, nonstop partying is happening in P-town in 12 days. Woot.

*Technically not ALL my lovers since some of my favorites are my husband is still in Jerusalem. But we'll have to reunite at a further point in time. :)

Just a little something I stumbled upon while reading the Book of Mormon last night.

Never has one sentence of scripture been so relevant to my personal situation:

"...And they were desirous to return again to Jerusalem." 1 Nephi 16:36

Maybe I feel exactly like the daughters of Ishmael... minus the fact that the circumstances are a teensy bit different.

Oh gosh. The first couple of chapters of the Book of Mormon are a little rough to read, after just getting back from Jerusalem. But it's been great at the same time.

But, I'm reading 4 pages a night to accomplish my goal of finishing before my birthday! :)

______________________________

Seriously though, who would've thought it would be SO hard to adjust back to real life? Not I. Although, I should've anticipated it when I wasn't excited to come home at all... haha

Good news though: Provo reunion trip is past prelim. planning stages. It's happening people. :) Eeek!

A Day of Jru.

When Nicole and I were in Vienna, we saw things everywhere that reminded us of Jerusalem. Like the falafel they had every 15 yards we walked, or the Nativity sets that were from Bethlehem at all the Christmas Markets, or all the crepes and waffle places, of the times when we were convinced people were speaking Hebrew (but most likely German) or even freakier, when we were sure they refered to us as Mormons.

Well, I thought that the days of everything somehow connecting with Jerusalem would eventually stop but boy was I wrong. And today was a big Jerusalem/Israel connection day.

Here's the deal. I babysit nanny for a couple that work with my dad. I know that the husband is Jewish. And his mom is living with them right now because she just had hip replacement surgery. So I knew there was Jew blood in the house.

Well, today, **Grandma's friend came over and they talked about Bat Mitzvahs and about their Rabbi and other cutely Jewish things (like friend's grandson going to Israel on the 25th. Oh, and his name is Daniel and I was SURE when they started talking about it, that they said Danielle. I was so jeal.)

First time I was reminded of Israel.

I then noticed that I had a text, from my dad telling me "I just had falafel for lunch."

Number two for Jerusalem.

A little while later, I was talking to grandma's friend while grandma was having physical therapy and she asked me what movies I had seen recently that I liked. I explained to her that I hadn't seen any movies recently and that I had been studying abroad for the past semester so I was a little out of the American-culture loop. (My sneaky segway to start talking about Israel/Jerusalem to someone who would appreciate it).

She asked where and I quickly told her Israel.

She kept asking more specific questions to get me to tell her Jerusalem, Brigham Young University on Mt. Scopus, etc. She was excited. We then talked about it for quite a while. I want to say it was like 20 minutes but it was probably at most like 10. We talked about what we both liked about the area, the coolest things we saw, what our specific group did, etc. It was lovely.

Jerusalem/Israel: 3

They then went out to lunch and while they were gone, I flipped through a couple of magazines (because little nino was napping) and in the Mental_floss magazine I was looking through, they had a whole little section about Turkey. And I knew most of the stuff that they were trying to inform me about. And the stuff I didn't know, I felt even cooler learning because I could imagine the places where it all took place.

Jerusalem (ish) number 4.

When the little grandmas got back home, they told me that they went to a little Mediterranean resturant right down the street "by the Chase bank" which doesn't help me because I have no idea where the Chase is... But they said that they had falafel and shwarma. I'm sure they only told me that because of the conversation we had previously had about Israel but it was funny.

Jru: 5.

Grandma's friend also told me I looked like I could be 16. Which I guess is supposed to be a compliment but I'm not sure I agree. Although, I guess it does show that I'm aging proportionally to how time is moving... because last year, around the same time, someone thought I was 15. But the good part of this is that my future husband is 17 sooooooo, if I look 16, that's working with our plan perfectly!

[insert picture here of Josh and I where we look like we're the same age.]

And that brought back Jerusalem again: Six. (Although this was a mental connection... I didn't tell grandma's friend about Joshie, surprisingly.)

I also talked on the phone with/texted Jerusalem people a significant amount today. As in, more than ever-ish.

Charlotte (who's mission papers are IN!)

Junior (who's less bored than me but still bored, in Provo)

Suzy (whose voice sounds just as lovely as the last time I heard it, more than a month ago.)

I'm supes excited to be reunited with them all in a couple of weeks. It'll be marvelous!

Cuddle sesh in Suzy's bed like the good ol' days? Yes please.

Fighting with Junior like normal? Of course.

Being connected at the hip with little Lottie? YES.

Ahhhh. I've never in my whole entire life been excited to go to Provo.

But yes, it's been a much better day than yesterday, which will go on record as one of my worst days babysitting, ever.

**Whenever Grandma is mentioned, it isn't my grandma, it is the grandma of the kid I watch.

Pssst.

New Blog layout. :)

I decided it was time for a little change,

Time to freshen things up a bit,

And make things a little brighter!

Don't be alarmed, it's still the same ol' me though!

Coming soon: More adventures and probably more whining about missing Jru. Oops.

Rekindled Love: Trampolines.

When I was younger (say like, 11) I would go and play at some friends in the ward's house and they had the greatest toy ever: a trampoline.

We would literally jump on it for hours. And sometimes people would fall of and break their arms or other random limbs but not us. haha

I always thought it was so fun to go over to the Haight's and jump. Sometimes we would have water balloons or whatnot with us on the tramp as well. And we obviously had tons of games that we would play, involving the prized possession in the backyard.

And actually, I always thought that going up to the Garff's and jumping on their tramp that was at ground level, as in you just walk straight onto it, was the greatest invention ever. Going up there for weddings or missionary homecomings/farewells was the best because we got to jump on the coolest tramp in the world. I can say that because they live on this huge hill and so you feel like you're jumping on top of the world.

Anyway, back to the story, the other day, more specifically Friday, I got to babysit 10 children. Which wasn't nearly as bad as one might thing. BUT at the babysitting house, they have a trampoline. And I played on it with the kids but it wasn't really that fun because:

1. It was a little dirty and falling apart.

2. It was above ground so I had to precariously climb up this sketchy ladder and then crawl through the safety netting (such a hassle). And getting out was even harder because I had to get out while holding a 18 month old.

3. I was jumping on it with 3 three-year olds and an 18-month year old. Not ideal.

But that day, I remembered how much I adore jumping on trampolines.

And then just two days later, we got invited to dinner at a ward member's house. Jack and I were the two "old" girls and then there were three "old" boys and then three little(r) boy +Allie. haha and all three groups of us were fighting over the trampoline all night. But it was mighty cold outside and so we could only handle it for so long.

It was SO fun though. Plus their tramp was clean, and it was ground level, so you just walk right through the netting and you can jump! Seriously, so great.

After that, Jack and I decided that once we remodel, we want the floor in our rooms to be trampoline. Then we can jump right into bed! Perfect! :)

_______________________

Side story/note: Hey Erin & Jess, do you remember that one time when I jumped/fell off the trampoline at the Ranch. I had kinda forgotten about that experience until I was jumping on the trampoline with my sister and explaining why I thought safety nets on tramps were dumb.... and then I remembered that little adventure that I had. haha oops!

Feeling Homesick.

Read this article tonight.

BAD IDEA.

Seriously. It was a tough read. And now all I really want is to go back home.

I didn't like the fact that I could imagine every single place he was describing. And I could smell the streets he was walking through. And I miss all the people who I walked through that city with. And those who lived in that gorgeous building on Mt. Scopus with me. I'm going through SERIOUS withdrawals.

I've officially been gone for more than a month. I don't like that.

Take me back home, please.

:(

Love/Hate Relationship: Spotify.

Well, I suppose it's more like hate.

Remember that one time when I was living in Jerusalem and this new crazy thing called Spotify was introduced? Well, I didn't really know what it was and I didn't really have a reason to care about it. I was living under a stupid rock, I had figured out a way to hack into youtube, and that's all the music I needed. Plus, I couldn't download other random things. So it was all good. And on top of that, I didn't have facebook telling me that "So and so listened to such and such song on Spotify".

But once I entered the semi-real world (Vienna), and I saw it all over facebook, I downloaded Spotify and started listening to Michael Buble Christmas music and Erin Young, constantly (I mean, when we were home and Nicole didn't get sick of it....). But this new discovery and new access to tons of music was suddenly halted 14 days after I downloaded it.

The copyright deals are different in Austria. And silly me, without even really realizing it, made it so that I only got the 14-day free trial that Austrians get. And now Spotify is making it IMPOSSIBLY hard to change my country to the US even though it clearly knows that I'm in the US.

Argh.

Which means that I've been Spotify-less for a good 2.5 weeks. And it's starting to get tough, let me tell you.

Why can't it just politely allow me to change my country and not have to deal with silly little payment issues.

Oh Spotify. You just lost a supporter. (I would say you lost business but I wasn't actually paying for your services.... haha).

So frustrating thoughhhhhh.

my heart's a stereo.

Today was not a typical day.

In fact, it was kind of weird.

I drove over to Homestead and did a car switch-a-roo.

I ran errands, and saved $0.05 for "bringing my own bag" after I purchased a pack of gum (yay for having a purse!).

Helped my mom buy presents for everyone for Friday the 13th. haha

Was instructed by my mother to eat ice cream (and obviously I was very obedient.)

Hardly used my little computer.

Ran lots of errands.

Cooked ALL of dinner.

And diagnosed my dad's random wrist swelling.

I'd say it was a pretty good day.

And now I'm blogging while catching up on Once Upon a Time. It's been hard to have to keep up with TV shows now that I'm back...

Maybe I'll also start looking through pictures to put them on facebook. I feel like it's getting to be that time now.

Tomorrow though, I'm doing laundry, babysitting for between 7-10 children, finally going to the post office to send my letters!, (hopefully) visiting our new house, babysitting my favorite children who happen to be my second cousins-once removed, and having an enjoyable evening watching tv, I'm sure. It'll be a rather busy and productive day. woot.

It's 5 o'clock in the mornin'.

Alright, since people have been hatin' on my lack of productivity in life, I've decided to make a couple of little goals to get things done. haha strange how that works...

Here we go! And obviously these aren't all necessarily hugely important goals.

1. Upload Jerusalem pictures onto facebook... after I go through all 9,000+ and figure out which ones people will care about.

2. Make Jerusalem book.

3. Catch up on my Jerusalem blog posts (aka add pictures and write about the other field trips. haha)

4. Clean and organize my Jerusalem stuff that is here.

5. Figure out trip to Provo details.

6. FIND A JOB.

7. Be super crafty.

8. Figure out Rexburg details.

9. Find a superb job (it's so important it gets listed twice.)

10. Babysit like crazyyyyy. (Currently in progress, woot!)

And last but definitely not least, hang out with these lovelies again very soon:

Changes.

New life plan is in the works.

Stay tuned.

:)

Out with the old, in with the new.

How is it 2012?

This seriously blows my mind. I distinctly remember last year's New Year's Eve and it seems like it was literally yesterday.

And wow, so much has changed and happened in this year.

-Lousy job situation turned worse and then turned better and better. :)

-Nicole getting home.

-Best semester at BYU-Idaho to date (Both grade-wise and socially) :)

-Not having a summer but instead traveling and working for my 5 weeks off.

-BYU-Jerusalem Center.

-Israel.

-Jerusalem.

-Lovely Christmas.

-And a stellar last day of the year.

I've met some of my favorite people in the past year, people whom I hope I will know for years and year to come, had lots of new exciting experiences, saw the world, had adventure, lots of opportunities to grow, serve and LEARN. It's been a marvelous year.

And our last day of 2011 was marvelous (except for the little part where I felt so sick I thought I was going to die...)

We started with a lazy little day and then after we decided what we were going to do with the day, we headed north to the City.

Our preliminary itinerary included: Golden Gate Bridge pictures, clam chowder in bread bowls, Ghirardelli Square for ice cream, hanging with the Garff's, home.

Well, that got altered a little bit as we started on our adventure.

We decided to take the scenic drive (aka 280) up to the City so we then decided to stop in Half Moon Bay and get lunch. And then as we continued our drive, we stopped at a couple of overlooks to take pictures and such, and see how pretty California is.

So many surfers in Half Moon Bay. Wowza.

Gorgeous.

Sisters. :) (Ignore my crazy, windblown hair...)

Supes presh with Nate-o.

We then drove up and around to the City. :)

It's been a really long time since I've been to San Fran. But it was fun to be back. And it's always an adventure when we're on family trips. haha

Golden Onion Church... in San Francisco!

So we drove to the city to Baker Beach which is seriously a super good secret. (And just a heads-up, I'm totally going to copy the Whitlocks and take my wedding pictures there too....) So we took some presh little family pics, which look completely photoshopped, but they are legitimately taken in front of the Golden Gate Bridge. And we got to take artsy shots with our new little Christmas cameras. yippee! :) It was fun to be at the beach and hear the thunderous waves crashing.

Crazy, huge waves!

(p.s. thanks skimboarders for being such good models.)

Tell me these all don't look photoshopped.

:)

Pretttyyyy.

Sibs. :)

Three girls.

After about 8 pictures like this (with Nicole failing), we moved on to...

...This. (First try of Dan/Jack).

After a wardrobe addition and repositioning, we then got this one.

Hi California. Why are you always so gorgeous?

One of my faves. It looks like snow washed up on the beach.

Love.

Once the sun set (or started setting) we decided to leave and head to our next destination... which we decided would be the Wharf for some dinner. We went to Boudin's where I figured it would be delicious and they would have some non-seafood infested options but I was sadly mistaken. So while everyone else ordered clam chowder or crab/corn bisque, I got to have sourdough pizza. haha it was still delicious and I still ate way to much... I just wish that they didn't contaminate ALL their food with nasty stuff.

Following dinner, we walked through the little museum that explains their presh story of how they began which was interesting. Especially since I didn't really understand how sourdough bread was made... and now I do. Plus they make it into cute little shapes so that was fun to see, it was like a zoo of bread. Fun.

Sourdough fishies.

Sourdough crab.

We then headed over to Ghirardelli (which is also a tricky word to spell....) where we got peppermint bark samples (my FAVORITE) and ordered some ice cream sundaes. We totes got peanut butter and a regular sundae for the three amigos to share, Nallie shared hot chocolate and the parentals got a banana split. Delicious. But I ate WAY too much and for a little while, I didn't feel good at all.

It was a rough walk back to the car because I thought I was going to die. And the drive home was rough as well. But we survived.

After recuperating for a little while at home, I then headed to Colleen's for our annual party. I got there are like 10:00 and they were in the middle of Something Borrowed which, surprisingly, is a movie that I have seen before (and I was the only one there who had seen it before, craziness). We watched the movie and then we just hung out and talked until we could watch Dick Clark's NYE show (which doesn't start until 11:30... why?). We didn't want to listen to Lady Gaga so we muted it and we were a little bit sad that we didn't get to see the Biebs. Next year.

We got our Martenelli's all prepped and collected our poppers at 11:50 and then we did a 15 second countdown and then celebrated. Oh yes, we also got our glowstick necklaces and took some great glowstick pictures.

And then following that mini celebration, we decided to go on a walk around sketchy Los Altos. We made two immediate right turns and it was mighty dark (and kinda cold outside) but we did get to see some illegal fireworks, which was a good time. And then we got to scarred by the darkness of LA so we turned around and went home. (As a side note, it is really hard to text while walking in the pitch black... my eyes were killing me...)

We then got home, had some sword fights with our glowsticks, did some lice checks, etc and then we called it a night. Good thing we're all almost 21 years old yet we were acting like we were 7. And we left at 12:50 (and thus that's when I got home, thanks for being a stellar neighbor Colleeny) and I went to bed at approximately 1:10 or so.

Yay for 9:00 church.

Although it was pretty... good I guess. It was our "annual" hear-from-the-college-students Sacrament meeting, which is fun. Except it's always so hard to plan out and figure out what to say. Especially since I always feel like I have exciting stories (last year: skydiving; this year, Jerusalem). But that was supes presh, obviously. And people always give us lots of attention during the next two hours which is fun.

Actually, we didn't go to Sunday School. We hung out with our homies and chatted the entire time, typical. And then RS was presh.

And to top it all off, I got a cinnamon roll from YW. haha delish!

It was a lovely past couple of days! And now everyone is going to start school and I am going to be bored at home.... which just means lots more blogging. :)

Goodbye 2011. You've been great for so many reasons.

Hello 2012. You're going to be good and so full of adventure. :)