Well I'm Going Home...

Back to the place where I belong. Are you singing that song now? Its the eve before the eve of Thanksgiving. Three hours and counting until I start the drive home with two friends. I'm so grateful that I have the opportunity to take a few extra days of (paid!) time off so I can go home. I don't get to go home very often and its always too short. While this is a short visit, I'll be on my way back in a few short weeks for Christmas. I'm excited for the road trip, it should be fun. And my siblings don't know that I'm coming so it will be a surprise. I can't wait to see everyone!

The one thing that I'm sad about is that I'll be away from best friend and roommate Amber, AKA Panda. We have so much fun together! She's like my sister out here in Utah while I'm away from my sisters back home. She's my Bosom Friend, for those who have seen Anne of Green Gables. Sometimes we read children's books with accents (Amber's not that great at it, but it's fun watching her try). We tell bedtime stories to each other, often made up stories about how we meet our future husbands while travelling abroad. They are are like a made for TV Hallmark or Lifetime movie. In other words, they're awesome. We laugh. A LOT. We both hate being apart and talk about how we are going to be neighbors when we're older and our kids are going to be best friends.

During the summer she went on a 2 week Europe tour and I made
her a little scavenger hunt list for each place. She liked it and took a
picture of some of them for me to see.

A closer look at the lists.

I've gone camping with her family.

Please enjoy some of our text conversations. I'm blue.

We love Pitch Perfect and using hash tags (#)  in texts.

We've started playing The Bacon Game. You replace one word in a movie title with the word bacon. Some of favorites are Legally Bacon, He's Just Not That Into Bacon, Girls Just Want to Have Bacon, The Sound of Bacon, The Secret Life of Bacon, etc. The list goes on...literally. We've been keeping track of the good ones. Try it out and see what you come up with. If its a good one, you should leave it as a comment.

Now she loves her purple hair.

That was just a glimpse into our relationship. One of these days Amber wants to come visit Oregon. That will be a fun trip. Hopefully it will be sooner rather than later. 

Anyway, maybe I should sleep a little before we leave, but I doubt it. I probably won't post again until after Thanksgiving, so to anyone actually reading this, I hope you have an enjoyable holiday with those you love and be safe to anyone traveling like I am.

Decisions

Hello, it's me again. I'm back! Today during sacrament meeting, I was thinking about a lot of different things. One of the thoughts I had was relating blogging to the atonement. Weird, I know. A couple people had talked about writing in their journals and it made me think about how much I missed blogging. With the atonement, we can repent and be forgiven of our sins. We're not perfect and we are going to make mistakes, but we have a way to start fresh and do better. I seem to keep starting and stopping with blogging. I've faltered countless times at being consistent, but I always come back to it. It doesn't matter how much time has passed between posts. It's never too late to use the atonement in our lives and it's never too late for me to start blogging again. Writing this blog has been therapeutic for me in the past and I feel its something I need now. As with any habit, it's going to take time and work to do this regularly again, but I'll get there.

Normally, I'm pretty bad about remembering about fast Sunday until the morning of so I never really plan out what I'm fasting for unless there is something important or significant on my mind. As many of my friends and family know, I have been planning to go teach English in China through ILP for a while now. I was pretty dead set on going in January. Lately I've started wondering if now is the time to go. There have just been little things popping up and making me rethink my decision. I still want to go, but just not now. One of the biggest factors is my new position at work. It was an unexpected opportunity/promotion that came up last month. I'm happier and making more money which I can use to go to China at a later date and still have money for when I come back instead of going now and coming back close to broke. I know money isn't everything and this isn't the only reason why I've considered postponing going. I decided to fast today to help me decide and I came to conclusion to wait. So, I'll most likely be going next fall.

Since it's been so long, I have more that I want to post, but I'll save it for tomorrow.

Hey Stranger!

After neglecting my blog for so long, I'm finally back. I've been meaning to get back into the habit of blogging, but so much time has passed since my last post that I've been avoiding it. I treat my blog somewhat like a journal (minus the really personal stuff), so when a lot of time passes between posts I dread having to play catch up. Because I can't remember everything from the past four months, I'll start with Christmas break and go from there (unless I remember something that I really want to write about). I might span this over a few posts, depending on how much I write. I don't like reading extremely long posts so I won't make you sit and read one.

December 20th: I left for the airport at 6:30 A.M. I actually managed to get a few hours of sleep before leaving. I usually never sleep the night before flying anywhere because it's always a morning flight and I'm extremely slow at packing (plus I'm usually doing laundry so I have all my clothes to choose from). I came really close to missing my flight. I didn't expect there to be so many people at the airport because most students had already left for home. It was also the day that all the missionaries were flying home. It was pretty cool to see so many all in one place. It reminded me of when people in the military come home because so many people were shaking their hands and telling them they did great work as they walked by.

I, along with other people that were cutting it close to their boarding time, got to go to the front of a line to check our baggage. We were told to go through security at the International Flights section of the airport because it would be less busy. It was significantly less crowded, but they were telling many people to do the same so there was still a bit of a line. As I stood in line, my eyes almost never left the clock. It was as if I thought I could slow time down the harder I stared at it. I couldn't. As it got closer and closer to my departure time, I was starting to panic. Luckily I made it through and boarded my plane...with less than 10 minutes to spare.

It was a good flight. I got to the Portland Airport and had an hour to wait for my uncles to get in. When they arrived, we were picked up by another one of my uncles and my sister Sunhee. I didn't know she was coming so it was a great surprise. We stopped at Olive Garden for lunch and it was delicious! Then we went home. It felt so good to be home. The rest of the day was spent just catching up and relaxing...until after dinner.

I went to bed around 10:30 P.M. because I was tired and I was having slight abdominal pain. I tried to sleep, but it got worse and around 11 I got up crying and told my grandma. It hurt really bad. She suggested a heating pad to help ease the pain but I didn't stick with that for very long. The pain was so bad I couldn't lie still and keep it on. I went to tell her it wasn't working and had to run to the bathroom to vomit. *Sorry if this grosses you out.* I threw up a couple times and we decided to head to the emergency room. My uncle came too.

*I know I said I wouldn't make this long, but I don't want to stop in the middle of the story. Sorry I lied.*

There were a couple people ahead of me so I had to wait awhile. I vomited again while in the waiting room. My turn finally came around and I got into a hospital gown. Before they could give me anything for the pain, they had to take some blood. The nurse tried on my left arm first. My blood wasn't coming out very fast and he kept shoving the needle further into my arm. It hurt. Then the blood stopped coming out altogether so he switched to my right arm. Again, not much was coming out so he got someone else to do it. This nurse poked my left arm again and got the blood she needed. Usually I would have been bawling like a baby because I hate needles, but the abdominal pain was so bad I hardly noticed (except when the first nurse was attempting to shove the needle all the way up my arm).

I talked to the doctor and found out for sure that it was my gallbladder and that I was having a gallbladder attack. Between Olive Garden for lunch and the dinner my great grandmother made, it was too much rich food in one day for my body to handle. They gave me drugs for nausea and the pain, but the pain meds didn't work so they gave me something stronger. They kept telling me to calm my breathing because I was hyperventilating. I tried, but it was hard. I came really close to passing out...it's a weird feeling. My hands and arms even started going numb. Once the stronger pain killer kicked in, I was so comfortable and almost fell asleep (it's hard to sleep when people are constantly checking on you and you can hear the people on the other side of the curtain talking about why they are in the ER). I got an ultrasound and then was told I would have to have surgery while I was home. Boo!

After three hours in the ER, I finally got to go home. I was so drugged up and could barely walk to the car. My uncle jokingly asked if they took out my funny bone because I had been having a "Wendi Moment" (extreme case of the giggles, usually with tears) a few hours prior and now I looked dead. I threw up once more in the car (luckily I had a bowl). I finally got to sleep and thus ended my first day of break and being home.

Yay for completing my first blog post of the year!

Concert In Colorado (Warning: Long Post)

So we left Saturday morning at 4 A.M. Since I hadn't gone to sleep yet, I was extremely tired. I was awake in the car just long enough for Janessa to run over a poor duck. It was raining pretty hard so it was hard to see. It rained most of the way to Denver. I felt like such a bad road trip buddy because I slept for so long. I was much better on the drive home with a little help from my good friend Dr. Pepper.

We got to Denver in ten hours instead of eight (due to the rain). We bought lunch at Wendy's because it was right next to the venue. I recommend their Asian Firecracker Wrap or salad. It was delicious. We had to change out of our traveling clothes in the car (don't worry, no one saw us) because there was no public restrooms anywhere nearby. We arrived at the concert venue extremely early to increase Janessa's chance of seeing Joe Jonas before the concert. Also, it was general admission seating so we had to be towards the front of the line. I waited in line for a total of 7 hours. Janessa stood out back by the tour buses for 4 hours, in the rain, hoping to catch a glimpse of Joe. She met his keyboardist and he said that he wouldn't come out because of the weather. A singer's health is everything you know so he couldn't risk catching a cold. Fifteen minutes after she joined me in line, Joe came outside and met with some of his fans. Poor Janessa. She also barely missed getting a VIP pass to meet him. It just wasn't her day.

While I was waiting in line, there were two guys talking to everyone in line. They are in a band from Kansas called The After Party. They're following the Joe Jonas tour to promote themselves. I talked to Alan, the drummer. Brandon, who plays bass, was at the other end of the line. I was listening to my iPod and he asked me who I was listening to. I proudly admitted it was Justin Bieber. He told me about his band and asked if I'd like to hear one of their songs. He passed me his iPod and I listened. I liked what I heard. I bought their CD and got it autographed by both of them. Janessa and I took a picture with them too :)

Brandon, Me, Janessa and Alan

I wish I had looked a little cuter or at least had makeup on, but I'm the kind of girl that chooses comfort over cute. Also, I figured I didn't need makeup because I wasn't trying to impress anyone and I didn't really care that much about those performing, except maybe Jay Sean. After meeting Alan, I kind of regretted my choice. The other two members, Andy (plays guitar and is Alan's twin) and Kenny (vocalist) were in another city doing their own promo stuff.

This is the song Alan had me listen to.  I love it and can't stop dancing to it!

Since we had such a great place in line, we were able to make it close to the stage easily. How close? Second row baby! Well, Janessa was second row. During the concert I kept getting pushed further away from her and my original spot. She kept looking back to make sure I was still there. I get easily lost in a crowed.

There are pros and cons to a general admission seating concert. 

Pro: You can get close to the stage if you're fast enough. 

Cons: You get shoved since there are no seats. You get stepped on. If you're short, the people behind you think it's okay to use you as an armrest. No joke. Kinda pissed me off. Camera straps hang in your face. There are multiple people invading your personal space bubble and you get way closer to strangers than you would like to.

Okay, so it looks like there's only one pro. I think I will stick to concerts where you pay for you seat and everyone stays where they're supposed to. Or maybe I'm just not cut out for concerts.

JoJo opened the show. I haven't heard anything about her since she was in the movie Aquamarine. I may have forgotten that she existed. I was never a huge JoJo fan in the first place. This performance didn't do anything to change that. She dropped the f-bomb when her keyboardist messed up on her new single and her outfit was awful. 

She used to look like this.

Now she looks like this, an angry rocker. Dark hair does not suit her.

Jay Sean was next. I loved him. He is amazing live and he's got some beat boxing skillz! I forgot he had an accent. When he talked I was in heaven. He also took his sun glasses off during a song and every female in the room melted. He was so cute! He also told us we could download his new album for free! Want it? Just click here. 

Then it was the moment everyone besides me had been waiting for. Joe performed. Everyone went crazy and the pushing increased. I'm not really a fan of his music, but his looks are acceptable. I knew a few songs he sang from his Jonas Brothers days. 

During his final song, he had about 8 roses that he was throwing out to the audience. If I had been a little taller I probably would have caught one. But I'm not. So I didn't. It's not like I really cared anyway. The girl next to me caught one and the girl behind her grabbed it too. I think they were friends, but they ended up fighting over it and the coveted rose was destroyed. It was like a bridal bouquet toss gone wild. Times 100! I thought I was going be like one of those people who gets trampled to death during Black Friday. 

When the concert was over, we hung out by the tour buses hoping they would come out. We even went to a back ally to see if it was Joe leaving in a black SUV with tinted windows. It was his band/crew members. He had already left to board a plane to NJ for a family weekend (we knew because Janessa is his follower on twitter).

Jay Sean waved and blew kisses to us from his tour bus before leaving. Most of the people had cleared away by now (there were only six of us left) so JoJo came out and offered us her extra box of pizza. We couldn't take pics, but it was nice of her. Janessa and I hadn't eaten since we first got there at 1 P.M. and it was now almost 11 P.M. 

Pizza from JoJo...it was Papa John's if anyone cares.

We also had to pee like no other. Seriously, as unhealthy as it is, we didn't pee for like 12 hours. I was hoping the celebrities would pity me and realize I was risking my life to see them, but they never came out. I was even starting to make up headlines for the next day's paper. "Fan dies from exploded bladder while waiting for Joe Jonas." 

The hotel we stayed at was in Fort Collins, which is an hour away from Denver. So we were tired, cold and had to pee, but had to wait an hour to be comfortable again. I think that may have been one of the best sleeps I've had in a while. I was so dead to the world. 

We woke up and met Janessa's cousin for breakfast at this cute little restaurant called Snooze. They only serve breakfast food. It was sooooo good! I ordered the Caprese Benedict: Ripe heirloom tomato slices, fresh mozzarella and poached eggs atop toasted ciabatta with cream cheese hollandaise, basil pesto and a light balsamic drizzle. YUM! We also ordered three little pancakes/french toast so we could all try what they were famous for. We got a Pineapple Upside Down pancake, Blueberry Lemon Bar pancake and Peaches 'N Cream French Toast. Everything was so delicious and their hash browns were amazing. It kept me full the whole ride home.

It was a really fun short trip and I'm glad I got to go. It was a nice end to my birthday week.  I wonder what I'll do next year.

Random Road Trip

In less than 3 1/2 hours I will be leaving with my friend Janessa to go to Denver, Colorado. Why? Because she's obsessed with Joe Jonas and had an extra ticket. She tried to sell it, but none of her friends wanted it. On Wednesday (my birthday) she was desperate and posted about her upcoming trip on Facebook. She said she needed a car buddy and concert buddy and whoever wanted to go wouldn't have to pay for anything. Since I've been in here in good 'ol Provo pretty much all summer long, I jumped at the chance to get away. Even if it's only for two days. I'm excited for the road trip. I've never been to Colorado. I've never been this far east before. I'm not excited about seeing Joe Jonas, but Jay Sean will also be performing and he's cool. But hey, I can't really complain because I get to go to a concert for free.

I'm going to be pretty dead though. I'm really tried, but I need to finish cleaning for cleaning checks. Also, tonight a bunch of us decided to play football after a BBQ some guys in our ward put together. We wanted to get muddy since it rained today. We started in the park, but it was too dark. None of us could see the ball so we weren't really playing so much as running around like chickens with our heads cut off. We moved to the field at a neighboring complex because they have lighting. We were much more successful. I actually don't know which team won.

We ended our game early because a girl asked us if we could hide in her apartment to surprise her friend for his birthday. None of his friends really showed up (there were only six people). Whether he was expecting a surprise party or not, he was definitely surprised because there were like 14 strangers singing him happy birthday. We thought it was pretty fun. I felt bad though because we got grass and a little dirt all over their carpet. They were cool about though because they were so grateful.

I love how random life can be sometimes.

Traveling Traditions

As mentioned before, I always stay up all night the night before travelling anywhere, usually because I'm up late packing and since I have to be up early it just makes sense (to me anyway) to stay up. For me, it's easier to pull an all nighter than to wake up after getting a few hours of sleep.

Another one of my traditions is to hit up Starbucks after passing through security so I can get a caramel apple spice. It's so warm and delicious! It's such a great (coffee-free) way to start my day. I love when they have pumpkin scones; combining the two together is like Fall in your mouth.

I didn't take this

My favorite thing about the airport is people watching (while drinking my caramel apple spice). I love people watching...I think everyone does. And if there happens to be some cute guys to watch (in a non creepy, non stalker-ish way), even better. There just so happened to be one yesterday and he just happened to be Asian, possibly Korean. He was in line a ways behind me waiting to go through security so we kept zig-zagging past each other. He was also behind me in line at Starbucks. The only thing that would have been better is if he was on my plane. Sadly he was not. There were no cute guys on my plane, just a bunch of old people.

Usually I sleep on the plane, which I did. I also usually sleep in the car on the way home from the airport since  I'm extremely tired. This time I did not. I told Nana (I think we were in Salem or nearby) that this was the most we've talked on the way to or from the airport since I'm usually asleep. I stayed awake the whole way home, where I crashed on the couch downstairs. I took a nap and then after dinner I crashed again, this time on the couch upstairs. Woke up long enough to remove my make-up and take out my contacts. I think I got at least 12 hours of sleep. Probably more. That's what I get for staying up all night the night before.

I love being home, even though all I've done so far is sleep.

Under the Tuscan Sun

 I wasn't literally, but I pretty much felt that way. Oh how I wish I was really feelin' the rays somewhere Italy! But here is good too. Today was so sunny and warm! I am loving this perfect weather we are currently experiencing in P-town. I can only hope and pray it continues and that we don't see snow again until the winter months.

This evening for dinner I made soup, which was similar to the Tusan soup that's served at Olive Garden. Mind you, mine wasn't as fancy, but it tasted great. That's all that matters, right? Anyways, I ate it sitting on the couch with the blinds wide open and the sun light pouring through. Eating hot soup on a warm day never felt so good! 

The only thing that could've made it better would be eating it at Tuscan villa with a great view.

Seriously, I want to go to Italy SO bad! You have no idea. By the time I finally make it there (maybe it'll end up being where I go on my honeymoon whenever I end up getting married, which isn't any time soon), the temple in Rome will be done. I was so excited when I heard that they're are building a temple there. I mean Italy is already beautiful and has tons of beautiful buildings, but add an LDS temple into the mix and oi! Can't get more breathtaking than that!

What it will look like

An aerial rendition of what it will look like

Look out Italy, here I come! I just don't know when.