Six. Seis. Seis. Six. Seis. Six. Missionaries.

(Since it's mighty hard to tell from that, those numbers are in French, Portuguese, Spanish, English, Portoguese, English. hahaha)

It's weird because I'm the age right now where basically all of my friends are on missions.

And this summer is especially weird. Let me explain to you.
For 6 continuous months, I have a (pretty good*) friend entering the MTC.
[*pretty good means someone that is more than an acquaintance. It's someone I would consider a good friend. haha]

In May, Charlotte entered the MTC.

She's learning French and will be serving in the France, Paris Mission.

[I'm seriously SO excited for her and France is SO perf for her!]

In June, Erin entered the MTC.

She's learning Portuguese and will be serving in Brazil.

(At least that's the hope... she's still patiently waiting for her visa.)

(also, funny story. I told Erin and Charlotte to find each other. Erin recognized Charlotte right away... from the many blogs but Charlotte thought she had a creeper on her hands. But now I think things are good.)

In July, (actually, today), Kayla entered the MTC.

She'll be learning Spanish and will eventually be serving in Ecuador.

(Which is literally perfect for her because she worked in an orphanage there last year and already loves the people.)

In August, I enter the MTC.

English speaking and Colorado Bound! :)

(Which was a shock. But it'll be lovely.)

In September, Suzy Q enters the MTC.

She'll also be learning Portuguese and serving in Brazil.

(Although a different mission than Erin. And she goes to the Brazil MTC so we don't overlap in Provo, sadly.)

In October, Suzanne enters the MTC.

She'll be speaking English and serving in Texas.

(We're kind of twinsies.)

So yeah. It's pretty insane actually.

I seriously love these girls.

 Ecuador, Texas, Colorado. (We were the three pre-missionary friends.)

And this was our final picture until we're reunited again. :)

 France, Colorado, Brazil. 

After Hezekiah's Tunnel. 

[We're statues.]

Brazil and Colorado.

Everyday is an adventure.

So, Six months.

Six friends.

Six happy reunions. :)

Until Fall 2013/Spring 2014.

Blog Hopping.

I don't know about most people but sometimes, I get in a mood where I am really into blogs. So I'll start reading one of my friends blogs and then I'll read one of their friends... etc.

The other day, I did this and I ended up at this blog because I read on a different blog how bizzare their love story is. (And it really is, see?)

I then kinda became consumed by this blog. I started reading through the archives. Until I got to a post where she mentions this blog. (And their super crazy love story.)

I then read through alllllll the archives. And I mean I literally read every post she's ever written.
Because, you know, I have tons of spare time, at the moment.

And I kinda love their family. It's a super strange story but it's really cute how she was there when he really needed her. And it's interesting to see how she has really taken on the role of mother, for kids who are almost old enough to be her peers.

I think I especially liked her when she mentioned she started blogging because of nienie. And how she impatiently waits for CJane to update her blog. Love it.


And most importantly, I feel in love with her in this post.

In case you don't want to click on all these links, I'll tell you what she posted about. She mentions how she loves to travel and how one of her favorite places is here:

 In fact, the first picture she has is of the Dome.

(And to clarify, the favorite place she is talking about is Israel in general, not just the Dome.)

It's funny how I feel like I have a connection with anyone who has been there.

And you know what, I still miss it everyday.

Life Lately.

Just a few pictures to recap my life, as of late.

(I'm really regretting not taking my phone to capture all my surgery memories: hospital gown, socks with paws, and my party hat. oh wellll.)

Wednesday:

Road trip to Oregon. Look at our little driver.

Wednesday evening-Sunday Morning:

Albany, Oregon.

Sunday Morning:

Erin's lovely Farewell.

(And a rather long drive home...)

Monday evening:

FHE at Girls'  Young Women's Camp.

This is the view of the ocean, which is covered in a thick layer of fog. 

Gorgeous. :)

Monday night:

This is my inbox after a lovely (and last) chat with ERY.

I already miss that girl!

And yes, as already mentioned, my tonsils got removed yesterday. The recovery has been swell. 

(And, my blog readership is down to approximately one. Now that Sister Searle and Sister Young are both in the MTC. Bummer.)

iStalk.

When you think of summer you think of pools, the beach, barbeques, freedom, sunshine, warmth.

And leisurely bike rides.

Yesterday, Jack and I decided to have our first one of the summer.

Mostly because we have some friends from Hollywood in town.

aka Ashton Kutcher, and a whole bunch of his friends.

When I say friends though, I really mean film crew (although I would bet that they are friends too!)

Jack and I rode our little bikes through a few streets, then stopped and stared.

And just watched them film.
They did this motorcycle part over and over again.

And on the first take, we almost saw motorcycle guy wipe out. (I think it was Matthew Modine but I'm not entirely sure.)
It was funny.

And everytime he got back on the bike to shoot again, thy had to jump the bike. Seems a little ridiculous? But great.

Plus, it was really funny to hear all the movie lingo and be a part of it.
They said "quiet on the set".
"Cut." (And my favorite guy working there would say "Cut-o").
Etc.


Movie sets are fun.

Oh, and I forgot to mention why they're here.

They're making a movie (entitled Jobs) that is about Steve Jobs and the starting of Apple.
So what they're currently filming is inside Job's childhood home (and the garage that they built the first Apple computer in).

Fun Fact: For those of you who don't know, Steve Jobs went to the same elementary school, and high school as I did. And the same middle school that I was would've gone to had I not done the whole private thing. And the Chipotle that I frequent, is the one surrounded by Apple's campus. Essentially I would lunch with Apple geeks frequently in high school. (That's like my big fact when I need to feel cool about myself. ha.)

So yep. That's what's going on now. They're filming for three days.
And today, the entire street was blocked off.
Too many nosey little neighbors.

Definitely a good beginning to the summer.

Oregon, here we come!

A Magical Letter.

On my birthday, I got a text that said this:

"YOUR CALL ARRIVED!!!"

This was sent to me from my dear mother.

Charlotte and I obviously started freaking out. 

I was still going to be in Salt Lake until Monday so that little letter was just going to be sitting at my house all weekend long. Waiting for me to open it up.

Every so often during the weekend, Charlotte or I would, out of the blue, just say:

"Your/My call is just sitting at your/my house!"

The suspense kept building.

Even friends of Nicole's knew that my call was sitting at my lovely little abode. 

People were excited.

The weekend was full of suspense and excitement. 

Charlotte and I just assumed that I was going to be going to Paris with her. Clearly.

So much chatter regarding it.

Even random people in her ward, whom I didn't even know, wanted to make sure that I would call Charlotte, and that she would tell them where I'm going. Hilarious.

Anyway, the weekend passed way too fast and way too slow at the same time.

Too fast because it was my last weekend with Charlotte until 2014.

Too slow because I wanted to open the letter.

Once I got home on Monday, I had to wait for everyone to get home too.

From school, work, etc.

The time finally came. 

And that sucker got ripped open.

And I read these words:

A letter from President Monson as a birthday present? Sure, I'll take that!

EXCITEMENT.

Although, if we're being honest, I was way shocked. 

I was kind of anticipating going foreign.

And if I was going stateside, I didn't expect Colorado at all.

Especially since it's Jessica's mission.

And I know others who live there too.

[source.]

But it'll be an adventure! And I'm excited for it! :)

See you in September, Denver!

[Now onto the struggle of finding cute missionary clothes. Wish me luck!]

The Miracle of Life.

Yesterday, I had an experience that was absolutely amazing. And so very unexpected.

After we got back from dinner, Kayla and I decided that we should go stargazing 'since it was our last night together...

We always go down to the beach and sit in those chairs so Heidi and I got ready and got E. Silva and started walking down the beach, towards Kayla's bungalow.

We were laughing and being crazy as we walked along the beach, which is typical.
We were approaching Kayla and some others when a kind of notice a large mound in the sand. It is an object that looks like a rock.

But then someone says the words: "Be quiet, there is a sea turtle nesting"
What?

Heidi kinda freaks out (because of other things and not the turtle) and she screams. Not a good thing for turtles.
We cautiously move around it and meet up with others nearby (because we almost walked right into it...) and we start watching.

Mother Nature is amazing.

I was completely mesmerized by this sea turtle.

Unfortunately, words travels faster than lightning in groups like this so after a few minutes, there were lots of people, making lots of noise.

I did see the turtle laying it's eggs, covering them back up and then heading back out to the ocean.
It was all really fast though because she started a while before we got there. We even thought that we scared her off and that she didn't lay her eggs.

But once she left, the Turtle Man in charge came over and did his job, with an eager audience.
He showed a turtle egg, explained his job and process (he adds a little vial thing with his name and number in with the eggs so people know he's in charge) and then he built a little sand mound and roped it off with caution tape so people can't disrupt the little nest.
It was his first nest in his beach area so he was pretty excited.
And the whole time, I was absolutely jealous of his job.

Seeing that reaffirmed my love for aquatic animals and my want to study them.
It was such a lovely evening. Especially since it was so random.

And because it happened to be Mother's Day here in Mexico.
Best part of the trip, I would say.

(Even though people were rudely annoying during it.)
Such a splendid way to end our time in Mexico. :)