this is see you soon.

I never planned to create a blog. It just sort of happened. I was heading to Jerusalem for 4 months and, after looking at other people's "travel blogs," I thought it would be something fun to try. Knowing my love of writing, pictures, and wit, I should have figured that the whole blog-thingy would continue once I came home.

While I'm sure some people have stumbled across my adventures in this little corner of the web, I mostly look at this blog as a chronicle of my life for me and my future. Not to sound selfish or anything. I just hope someday my kids will enjoy looking back at it and laughing.

Tomorrow I start the next adventure of my life. I am serving a mission for 18 months in France for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I plan to serve with all my heart, mind, and soul.

To continue chronicling my adventures, my family will be updating my blog with my weekly emails (and hopefully pictures!). I'm excited to have these 18 months documented here and when I return, we'll see if the blog bug is still itching me or if blogging even exists. :) Until then...

I leave you with one of my favorite songs. Don't Panic, by Coldplay. haha.

Au Revoir.

that's a first.

All I've had to eat today is a ripped off chunk of baguette. It's currently 3 PM. And I'm not really that hungry. That, people, is a first.

I'm not quite sure what's wrong with me...but I hear the French eat in small but rich quantities, so maybe it's just preparation for later.

Also, I've been taking a couple of French lessons from an awesome French tutor. Just so I'm not totally clueless in the MTC. It's good and bad thing. Helpful to get all the crazy sounds and pronunciations down, but mostly I just think "I've got to learn this language well enough to carry on a conversation with someone?" hahahahahahahahahahaha. It's gonna be great.

I know he's learning Spanish, but Michael's reaction at 10 seconds will be mine for the first nine-ish months. Guaranteed.

Another random thought:

Summer is simple. That's one of the reasons why I love it. I just put on the first thing I see in my closet and sometimes don't wear makeup. Judge me as you will. But I find it really satisfying when I can rub my eyes and not have to worry about smudging anything. Also, I haven't straightened my hair in over a month. And I really like it. I've finally become friends with my curly hair. That's another first. I have a feeling there's gonna be a lot of those in the next little while. And I'm excited for them.

our last night of epic awesomeness.

photo courtesy of Bekstrand.

I have the best friends. 

Seriously. 

And I'm gonna miss them.

One night last semester while we waiting for orchestra,

Bekstrand and I realized that in a couple of months 

we wouldn't be seeing each other for quite some time,

what with her leaving for Europe on May 8th 

and me leaving for my mission on May 30th. 

I also realized that she wouldn't be able to come to my farewell. Boo. 

But Bekstrand decided we would have to have one last party together before we left. 

She even put it in her phone calendar. 

That's how legit we are. 

Friday, May 4th was that party.

And it was epic.

Bekstrand and Heather 

(Penrose Penthouse Forever! Or until they tear it down)

picked me up in Bekstrand's insanely huge car. haha.

And we sat mexi style in the front seat.

Just like High School.

Then, the night panned out into the 5 phases. 

Yes. That's right. Phases.

Can you sense the awesomeness? 

Phase 1:

Dinner at Zupas.

I got the bacon tomato avocado panini. Actually, I always do. 

But that's because it's sooooo good. 

[Phase 1.5: Drive for a while and possibly get lost and have to rely on Gina (the GPS) to give us directions which she doesn't seem capable of doing. Oh, and laugh a lot.)

Phase 2:

Take a little hike up a trail to a beautiful waterfall and take fun pictures. 

And revel in the beauty and solitude 

until about 20 kids suddenly swarm the mountain. 

Phase 3:

Go to the grocery store. 

And then get forced to sit in the car while Bekstrand and Heather

take FOREVER getting whatever they're getting.

(Which turned out to be ice cream and toppings. So it was worth it.)

My favorite part was watching people walk up to the exit of the store

and stand in front of the doors for a couple seconds

before realizing the doors weren't going to open.

Hilarious. 

Phase 4:

Watch Two Weeks Notice (I love Sandra Bullock) and eat a lot of junk food.

Half way through the movie, 

Heather and Bekstrand asked me if I wanted to eat any chips. 

I look over to see about 2/3rds of the bag already gone.

Wow. 

Phase 5:

Sleep on Bekstrand's tramp. 

Which was fun while we were talking and discussing what the clouds looked like.

Then it turned into a nightmare.

Freezing cold+wind+a blinding bright moon+not enough blankets=no sleep.

Luckily, Bekstrand was experiencing the same thing. 

At around 2, the following exchange occurred:

Bekstrand: Charlotte?

Me: Yes?

Bekstrand: Are you cold?

Me: Freezing.

Bekstrand: Do you want to go inside?

Me: Yes!

Bekstrand: What about Heather?

Me: Just leave her.

[short pause.]

Heather: Whaaaaattttt?!?!?

So all three of us stumbled inside. 

The warmth and the couch were pure bliss. 

The next morning Bekstrand's mom made us waffles.

All in all, it was a great night, one that I will always remember. 

The worst part was saying goodbye. 

I'll just think of it as a "see you soon."

life is beautiful.

Joy is what happens to us 

when we allow ourselves to recognize 

how good things really are. 

~Marianne Williamson 

Yay for happy weekends! They typically consist of food, family, sunshine, and babies. :) Yesterday, my cousin Jann's beautiful baby Eva was blessed. She is an adorable, happy baby with a tight grip. ;) She didn't make a peep when I held her, so that's a good sign. Seriously, though, babies are the best. I think it would do everyone in the world some good to hold a baby for twenty minutes a day. After the blessing, I got to see my cousins who came all the way from California. It was great to catch up with them.

Temple Square was beautiful on Saturday. The tulips were blooming and the grass is now officially green. I wanted to run around barefoot, but I restrained myself.

Easter arrived with a beautiful church service and then a scrumptious ham dinner. I thought a lot about Jerusalem. Oh, and there was plenty of Easter candy--chocolate bunnies, French and Belgium chocolates, tangerine jelly beans, dark chocolate eggs, cadbury eggs, and peeps.

P.S. peeps, in my personal opinion, are nasty. But my brother loves them, so what can we do? :) The way I see it is, it's all sugar, but if you're going to get fat eating it, the stuff better taste pretty darn good. And peeps are just like eating straight-up sugar with no flavoring. So I'll stick with my European chocolate thank you very much.

P.S.S. When we were little, my mom hid Easter baskets around the house for us to find in the morning. And we always had a huge Easter egg hunt in the afternoon. I loved racing around my grandparents house in St. George looking for the eggs. I always got less than my brothers, though. They are legit Easter egg finders.
My mom didn't like the Easter Bunny idea when we were little, so we always knew the Easter Bunny didn't exist. Which is funny because we still believed in Santa and fairies. Go figure. Anyway. The Easter Bunny still kind of creeps me out. And I think I have some solid reasons to back up this fear.

Exhibit A:

Seriously? That is the creepiest bunny suit
I have ever seen. It's like the killer bunny
from Mounty Python. (source.)

Exhibit B:

Yeah, kid. I would be trying to get away
too. I'm so glad my mom didn't make
me go through that. (source.)

Exhibit C:

And finally, the Easter Bunny at the White House. Don't be fooled by their
smiles. Look closely at Natasha--she's giving the bunny a worried look.
And Malia looks a little scared too. Plus, notice the wide gap between
the family and the Easter Bunny. Need I say more? (source.)

Happy Monday!

No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel...

...until he comes home and rests his head on his own, familiar pillow.
Lin Yutang

photo source here. 

Woke up today at 5 AM. Oh the perks of jet lag. 

Spent 30 minutes playing fetch with Ginger. 

Got on facebook. Bored. Went off facebook.

Wondered what time it was back in Jerusalem.

Ate chex with ice cold milk. At my kitchen counter. In my pjs, with bare feet.

It's good to be back.

***

The first day home in America was a blast.

I slept in, then proceeded to make waffles and bacon. No more kosher kitchens!

source. 

Then I hung out with my family, listened to Christmas music,

and played our baby grand piano. 

Lunch. Cafe Rio (+ the good ice). 'Nuff said. 

source. 

Don't you love how so much of being home involves food?

Next came shopping at Costco. The place was crazy! 

I sort of just walked around dazed by the aisles of food

and people racing to and fro. 

But the taste testers were great. I might have gone back to the cookie one 3 times. 

At night I went to a movie at a theatre. First time in 4 months. :)

I have never slept through a movie before, 

but apparently my body didn't know that

because I slept through most of the movie. 

Strange. 

I guess I'll have to catch up with Holmes and Watson later. 

The end.

My first blog post is, ironically, about endings. And all of these endings seem to have big yellow caution stickers across them that say: "Warning! Your childhood is over!" I'm not saying I don't act like a kid, because you will still catch me running through the sprinklers, eating gobs of cookie dough, delaying decisions, and maybe watching an episode or two of Arthur. But lately, little things come along that remind me of the million decisions I have to make...

Like the end of Harry Potter. I know, sounds pathetic, but seriously I grew up with the Harry Potter books.  I devoured every page and waited in countless midnight lines for the newest books and movies. I laughed out loud over Fred and George's pranks, cried when Snape died, and thoroughly despised Umbridge. I often wonder about J.K. Rowling and how she created a magical world that so fully captivated me for over 11 years. For the latest and last Harry Potter movie I dressed up with my brothers and some of my friends and we went to the midnight showing. It was a brilliant night! We even had chocolate frogs!

Hermione and Doby.

Trelawny, a Muggle, Doby, Hermione, and Umbridge. Midnight showing at Jordon Landing.

Colin Creevy and an unknown Slytherin.

But the movie ended. First I felt sad that it was over. Then I felt a little dumb for feeling that way. I love this quote from the 7th book, because even if I did live the whole story in my head, why should that mean it isn't an important part of my life?

"Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?" ~ Dumbledore 

Another ending happened this morning when my dog Taffy died. She was almost 11 years old. My whole family was pretty sad because she was the best dog, requiring only food + water + treats + walks and returning a wagging tail + doggy breath + tummy to be rubbed + small surprises in the yard + instant vacuum + loyalty + and love. She was a good dog. I will miss her sneaking into my room every night.

But endings are good. They bring change and new life and excitement. Anatole France said, "All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another." 


I like to think that time is on our side. And life is good.