Hey Hey Hey

It's faaaaaaaat Albert!

Actually, it's Elise :) But after all of these delicious Christmas goodies people keep dropping off (and the fact that I am black *officially inducted into the black community by Carine Johnson in February of 2010*) some people might jus' git startin to believe I aim Fat Albert! And we wouldn't want that, now would we?!

Some things that would, naturally, occur to me so that my every day life doesn't get too boring:

1. Church. Sunday. Bathroom. I had my scriptures set up on the shelf behind the toilet, and naturally, they fell INTO the toilet water.
Classy.
Toilet water. Public toilet water.

Naturally, I freaked out silently for about 2 seconds because my back had been turned when I heard the 'thunk' and I was maliciously laughing at the person in the stall next to me, thinking it was their problem... once I noticed it was my own, I almost screamed and then brought my jaw back to the rest of my skull, I pulled the Word of God out of the nasty water, took the scriptures out of the case... washed my hands... put the case in the car...

And went to Relief Society.

As I am sitting there staring at all of the classy ladies around me in their nice Sunday clothes and perfectly coiffed hair (some of which are probably reading this. Let's just face it; our ward is full of classy, nicely haired ladies), I have "I just pulled scriptures out of a toilet" running through my head.

Wouldn't want to let myself feel too pulled together.

This after I walked into church 10 minutes late, saw the Stake President sitting on the stand, and ran up to where my family sat on the 2nd row.

It's okay. I'll be on time next week. That's not a regular occurrence, you see.

2. My dogs (namely Penny Pie. Oh how I love her; Oh how I wish she was blessed with a brain instead of whatever it is she carries around in her skull) ate my chocolate from Spain. No, stop crying; not all of it. But the big fat bar that you melt into the special hot chocolate that you eat with churros. It's okay; It's okay. I bought another bar while there for insurance.

3. I may or may not have accidentally lost the keys to the car and caused my daddy to be late to work on Monday. :( Whoops. Dad was nice about it though; I wasn't even awake when he was panicked and looking through everything.

4. My very best friend ever in the whole entire world since the time of our birth or we could say age of 4 years up until now and the rest of eternity is now engaged! That's right, Kirsetona found herself a sweet honey pie while I was away adventuring in Spain! And he definitely put a ring on it; it's a good sized rock, people. She is so happy, and I am so happy for her. She is absolutely one the most wonderful people I know and she means so much to me. She will be an incredible wife and mother; she is doing such a good thing! I am so excited for her! The date: April 19, 2013. Stink. I will be gone. Don't worry; I will think of something :)

5. 7 weeks............... yep. In 7 weeks I will be GONE. In that time I must:
                           - Plan Kirsetona's Bridal Shower for January 26th (ideas anyone?!)
                           - Train and run/bike/swim an Olympic Distance Triathlon with my baby sister Callie                                          
                             Johanna
                           - Work at the YMCA/Nanny for a week and a half total/Tutor as much as possible (I
                             love tutoring! Give me a call if you or a friend needs some help!!!)
                           - Love my family
                           - Study in a way that tells Mr Satan Pants I have no plans of backing out, and he's
                             dumb.
                           - Buy a wardrobe that is conducive to super humid, super cold, super hot weather
                              conditions, walking around all the time, and lots of wear and tear... like a solid year
                              and a half of wear (suggestions on stores? good things for New Jersey Climate? I  
                              appreciate the input!).
                           - Go to Utah this weekend until next Thursday (or Wednesday if I get my way)
                           - LOVE my family. I don't want to feel like I wasted this time at all.
                           - Attend the temple 1 or more times a week; I want to use this incredible tool for as
                             long as I have before I can't go for a year and a half!
                           - Love myself. Love myself. Love myself. That's so important, you see, to loving life,
                             loving others, and having the spirit in your everyday life. So, I must love myself and
                             not think negative things about myself.
                           - Love my family
                           - Shop with Kirsetona
                           - Play tons with Cbarnfacewordgmama + family. Love those people.

Okay. not to feel overwhelmed. but. I think I need to go to sleep so I can wake up and get started! One folder at a time, as Elder Polman used to tell my grandma when she was his secretary. "Don't let yourself get overwhelmed. Just open one folder at a time, and when you're done with one, fold it up and put it away, and open up the next one."

One folder at a time!!! This will be fun!!!! I pray I can use this time as preparation and time to really develop important relationships with my family and Heavenly Father. Our time here is short; live life to it's fullest. And I believe we do that through hard work, hard play, and even 'harder' prayer. Work hard, Play Hard, Pray Harder.

The Lord loves us!!! I can't wait to share The Restored Gospel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!!!