I'm a fan of snow

So, I've lived in California my whole life and I've enjoyed the weather immensely. However, I'm learning to love the sight of freshly-fallen snow. I hate slush, dirty snow, and ice, but fresh powdery goodness is delightful. See picture:

Halloween, snow, and everything in between.

One thing I really love about Provo is the display of the seasons. The fall leaves have all disappeared now, but when they were present, boy, were they lovely.

It was during this time that my roommates and I dressed up for Halloween:


If you need any help figuring out what we are, we are: Dorothy, Doll, Hermione, and Jamaican bobsledder.

Meanwhile, I counted down the days until my wonderful brother, Jonathan returned from the Argentina, Resistencia Mission. He arrived on November 7, 2009 and it was a wonderful reunion.



The reunion was short, but I anxiously counted down the days until Thanksgiving when I would return, yet again, to Southern California. My roommates all left 3 days before me which made for a lonely weekend. It was then that I decided to make some crafts!
It was finally my turn to head home where I spent time with some old friends and family
and enjoyed the most beautiful weather
I tried to take a picture with Jonathan but he insisted on looking at the road...
After a week I returned to Provo, and shortly after there were no more leaves to be seen but this instead...

Despite the fact that I'm freezing, the snow is beautiful and I really am grateful for the seasons in Provo =).

And while I'm in a posting mood...

These are my fabulous new roommates:

Jennica Dittman, Me, Kylie MacLennan, and Cassie MacLennan

President Monson is a Prophet

This goes hand in hand with Sunday's post. Another reason why I love BYU is because they have weekly devotionals on Tuesdays at 11:05 am. Today we had the awesome privilege of hearing from our beloved prophet, Thomas S. Monson. Not only do his talks help us feel the spirit, he is quite a comical man. Today he spoke about the 9 prophets he knew in his lifetime. He told a little bit about each one starting with Heber J. Grant. My roommate commented and said that it was so interesting because he was able to tell a personal story about each one of them. I wish I could recall everything to memory, but here are just some things he mentioned:

Heber J. Grant
Favorite Hymn: "Do what is Right"
Advice he might give: Persist in everything good and noble.

George Albert Smith
Favorite Hymn: "Let us oft Speak Kind Words"
Advice he might give: Have compassion

David O. McKay
Favorite Hymn: "Oh Say What is Truth"
Advice he might give: True Christianity is love in action.

Joseph Fielding Smith
Favorite Hymn: "Prayer is the Soul's Desire"
Advice he might give: Be Studious; Wickedness never was happiness.

Harold B. Lee
Favorite Hymn: "Praise to the Man"
Advice he might give: Stand ye in holy places and be not moved.

Spencer W. Kimball
Favorite Hymn: "I need Thee Every Hour"
Advice he might give: Be dedicated

Ezra Taft Benson
Favorite Hymn: "How Great Thou Art"
Advice he might give: What manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am.

Howard W. Hunter
Favorite Hymn: "Have I done any Good?"
Advice he might give: Be Modest; Proverbs 27:2

Gordon B. Hinckley
Favorite Hymn: "God of Our Fathers"
Advice he might give: Do your best.

He concluded by saying,"What can we learn from the presidents whom I have known and about whom I have visited with you today?" President Monson asked. "We can learn that they never wavered, never faltered, never failed; that they are men of God."

Sunday

So, today was my third Sunday in my new ward. That is the 236th ward of the BYU 15th stake. One of the speakers in Sacrament meeting inspired this new post. She was talking about how technology can be a way of spreading the gospel and encouraged us to post a blog with your testimony, or something to that effect. So here are just a few thoughts about our church.

I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet who restored the same church that existed in Jesus' time.

I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that it is "the most correct of any book on earth."

I know that Jesus Christ died for the sins of EVERYONE and because of it we can repent and become perfected in him.

I love the temple and the ordinances that are performed there (even though I don't know everything right now.)

I can't wait for the day that I can be sealed to my eternal companion.

I love Brigham Young University, the Lord's University, and the wonderful feeling that I have when I go to school.

I love student wards that are so strong and help us feel the spirit.

I love being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Meet me in St. Louis

This past Friday we drove 3 hours to St. Louis to visit our cousin, SiSi. We stood in line for quite a while to visit the museum beneath the Arch. It was my first time going to the Arch and it was beautiful; such an interesting piece of architecture.


We then made our way to Ted Drewes for some of their famous frozen custard. It was delicious.

Shh...Don't Tell Ie Mei...

It's almost 10:30 at night...but who can refuse a photo shoot with a cute little Mylee monster?!

I bore people to sleep

Today is Monday and Brad left for a high adventure trip with the Young Men. Ie Mei had to help drive people there and it was 2.5 hours away. What this meant was that she was gone for 5 hours starting at 6. She took Lance and Ailee with her so I was only in charge of Mylee and Jackson. Jackson is an early riser. He was up at 5:30 and was so kind to let me sleep in until 7:00. He mentioned he was bored and had nothing to do. I asked him if he had done all his work already. He replied by saying, "Yes. I've also done my piano and read three times." And I thought that adults were supposed to be the responsible ones. He wasn't allowed to have media time today so I started saying, "You can draw, you can read Harry Potter, you can jump on the trampoline..." all to which he replied NO.

A little bit later I convinced him to make some origami with me, which he thought was somewhat entertaining. Finally around 10:30 he said that he was tired and really bored; so bored that he got a blanket and decided to take a nap on the floor. This is a 9-year old boy who barely ever sleeps except for bed time. It's even rare for him to fall asleep on long road trips! I know I'm not the most exciting person in the world but I didn't know I was capable of boring someone to sleep.

two thousand, one hundred sixty point four

That's how many miles I drove with Ie Mei, Brad, and the rest of the tay-team! We went through San Bernardino.

We camped in Flagstaff, Arizona. That was cold.

We stayed a night in Amarillo, Texas.

We continued on through Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, and finally arrived in Indiana.



I am having a fabulous time. It is just a bit humid, but it does feel quite cleansing. I don't think I've ever appreciated a cold shower as much as I do now.

We took a walk along the Ohio River Sunday afternoon and it was beautiful.


p.s. ie li, you just need to photoshop yourself in right between me and ie mei =)

monthly update

hello ielingslife blog followers, Ie Li, Ie Mei, Michiko, Vanessa, and Tisha. Here is an update from the last month. Most recently, Austin Keith entered the MTC on March 11,2009.

Note: awkward picture...no physical contact at all, i promise.

To cheer me up, my roommate Jordan gave me these:


the flowers are beautiful. they're still red as ever sitting on my desk in my dorm. the ice cream is delicious but most things are from ben & jerry's. i have to try really hard not to eat all of it at once.

Today was a wonderful day. I was able to do baptisms for the dead at the Salt Lake Temple. Now, I know that it doesn't matter where you do them, the same thing is accomplished, but boy was that baptistry beautiful. I've never seen one so lovely and intricate. There were only 5 girls who went so we each got to do 20 names. It was a wonderful experience. =) We took a picture in front of the conference center waterfall before we left:



Note (left to right): lauren from texas, cassie from california, ME, erin from california, katy from colorado(relief society pres)

there was a nice older gentleman in the temple today and he told me that his daughter-in-law was from monrovia. and then i was like hmm...i know ie li's friend, eliza, is from monrovia...i wonder if it's her but then i couldn't find him afterwards to ask. turns out, i'm right. you know...it's a small world, but it's even smaller when you're LDS.

Sunday in P-town

Well, today was pretty much like every other Sunday except it was Fast and Testimony meeting. There were lots of great testimonies shared. It was great to not have so many thankimonies =). Some of you might know that I was called as a teacher in the Relief Society but I was recently released and called as ward chorister. I love it. Not that teaching wasn't great, but I always got real nervous to teach a lesson. But I'm very excited to lead the music during Sacrament meeting. I love singing hymns. They're so awesome. Church always makes Sundays great. =)

So this is a bit random but I have this really cute video from hawaii of Devin and Marina and I thought I'd share it with you all. This reminds me of why I love all my siblings, especially Jonathan. Jonathan and I are the same distance apart as Dev and Marina so it's just cute to see them interact. Just for a side note, ignore my voice. I hate hearing my voice on audio or video clips, but here it is:

I saved 3 lives!

Yesterday Cassie and I saved a 3 lives each. =) The American Red Cross held a week-long blood drive in the Wilkinson Center. I'm not the biggest fan of needles, but I don't seem to mind them too much. I just feel like there is a large need for blood in the world and as an STD free, healthy person I feel like it is my duty to save lives because so many people can't. After donating blood we sat in the refreshment area for a while and drank some juice and ate some delicious cookies. What kind of cookies you ask? Lorna Doone shortbread cookies. They are delicious. We took a couple packs of cookies for the road and rented "Bee Movie" and made a night of it.
Along with eating cookies and watching a movie, we put on some masks to rejuvinate our lovely faces and then did some other girly stuff (waxed arms etc.) So now, after that lovely friday night, I must get back to school and studying for 3 exams next week! Boo! But it's ok, I'm going to try and be positive because I know it is an amazing blessing to be able to study at BYU.

i love you, in-n-out!

Hello everyone! So, I realize I haven't posted anything in a super long time, so here is something that I thought would be nice to blog about. So I'm pretty sure ya'll know about austin keith. So, he's helping out his brother in Las Vegas for a little while before he leaves for the mish. Anyway, I said to him, "austin keith! Promise me you'll eat an in-n-out burger and call me immediately and tell me what you think!" he agreed. So anyway, he messaged me and told me that he had one and I asked him what he thought. These were his words: "it was good. Wasn't anything special for me though."

WHAT DID HE JUST SAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?

I definitely took in-n-out burgers for granted when I lived in california. And now that austin keith has told me that they're nothing special, I just want to eat one even more, because I appreciate them!

A few thoughts about in-n-out burgers and why they rock:
1. There aren't so many options that you have to decide what you want. There is the classic burger with or without cheese and if you're really cool you know about animal style.
2. All the ingredients are fresh
3. They always taste exactly how you expect them to: fabulous!

Final thought: next time I step in california, first stop:


IN-N-OUT BURGER

p.s. don't hold a grudge against austin keith, he's still learning. but i'm sure after he's lived in california for 2 years he will appreciate them. =)