PHONE PHONE PHONE!!!

Hey everyone!

After many hours of research and set up, I have finally figured out how to get an online number. I know, with only 3 more weeks of being in Mexico, what's the point? BUT THERE IS A POINT!!! Now, I can hear from all of you and we don't have to schedule a time!!!

So, when you call my number, it rings on my gmail and I can answer it if I'm online. Cool huh? You can also leave me messages and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

So, without furthur ado, my online number is 801-900-3148. You can also press this handy button on the upper right hand corner of my blog and contact me via the internet **but you do need speakers and a microphone on your computer for that to work out.

I hope to hear from all of you soon!!!!

Senor, may I have some mo..... photos!?!?

I just wanted to post a few pictures! Enjoy!

Our Thanksgiving- it was pretty nice.

When I first tried uploading that picture to my blog- it came out like this for no apparent reason. I kind of like it. It's sort of like Thanksgiving- Van Gogh style.

I made the dessert- which turned out DELICIOUS! Basically, all I did was look up a brownie recipe, and a chocolate chip cookie recipe and made the "dough" for both. Then, I layered cookie dough, Oreos, and a brownie top. Yummy! This picture also turned out funky, but... I think that all of you get the idea. It isn't rocket science.

Another photo gone wrong.

ANYWAY- here's some photos from my most recent Oaxaca temple trip.

We took a couple hours and went to the zocalo (the center). Gorgeous cathedral huh?
Our bus that the church rented to take us to Oaxaca said "In God We Trust" on the windshield- in English. Sort of funny huh? They must have known the gringas were coming.

Thanksgiving-Shmanksgiving

Hello friends, family, and esteemed alumni-

I have had a fantastic Thanksgiving and hope that everyone else has had a great day as well. The other teachers and I prepared a thanksgiving feast complete with chicken (sorry, no turkey), salad, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, soda, and a dessert I cooked up myself (with the help of my host mom). The dessert got burned in the oven because my host mom was convinced it wasn't done. Oh well, it still turned out delicious and it was nice of her to help me.

So, I've had a great day, and I wanted to list the A-Z's of what I'm thankful for (maybe YOU'll even be on this list....)

Amigos- they're simply amazing! I really have the best friends that I could ever ask for. I hardly deserve all of them.

Books- I love reading!

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

Dee Spanish Language

Electricity

Family (both at home and here)

Guitar and everything that stems from it

House in Utah- I miss it! I especially miss my room!

Internet- it makes it so easy to communicate! I can't imagine having to rely on snail mail!

Jesus Christ

Knowledge

Love- it's all you need

Mexico (both Tehuacan and Cancun)

Naps

Orem Fitness Center Employees :)

Pinterest- hours of entertainment

Quiet

Rain

Students in the school

Teachers that I have here in Mexico- they're so amazing!

U<<< see! There YOU are!

Voice (mine, specifically... it's pretty amazing)

Warm weather

X marks the spot= treasure! My precious!

You and me together<<< there YOU are again!

Zoos. I find animals fascinating :)

I hope that all of YOU are having an equally awesome Thanksgiving day and remember to thank God for all you have- I think that all of us (very much including myself) can do better at thanking Him for everything we receive.

Mi Casa Es Su Casa...

Hello all!

I just realized that I haven't really posted about my new family and house. So, here it goes! The grand tour!

We're going to start off with the living room/family room. Beautifully decorated eh? I usually perch myself on one of the beanbags and read most mornings.

At the end of the hall, we find the dining room/kitchen. In this particular picture, you see my first lunch that I was served at my new casa. The first day, my host mom asked me what my favorite dish that my mom at home makes. I answered Mac and cheese (homemade of course). What did she make the next day? Mac and cheese!!! That's that noodle dish in the middle. For lunch we also have french fries, a salad, breaded chicken, and passionfruit juice. Yummy!

This is the dish that I have EVERY MORNING. Diced up fruit, yogurt, honey, and granola. Yummy! Good thing I actually enjoy the dish, or else I would be in serious trouble.

Alright, now lets go through the door in the kitchen. What do we find? Nope, we didn't take a wrong turn. This is the right way to go to my bedroom. Climb those stairs! Don't die! I am so lucky! I am EXACTLY the right height to not have to duck when I'm going down and up the stairs. TALK ABOUT BLESSINGS!

On the roof, we take a left and we come across a small apartment with two rooms. Off to the left we find a bathroom.... or is it? This looks more like a half bath. But, take a gander on the wall. THERE'S A SHOWER!!! This is probably the smallest full bath I've ever seen! You can literally brush your teeth and be in the shower at the same time!!! Oh yeah. And it's blue.

Off to the right of the bathroom we find my room! It's a pretty cool nook. It has probably 50 blankets stacked on either side of my bed (just in case I get cold during the night). And, just in case 50 blankets aren't enough, grab one of the 30 in the closet. We also have a telescope in here, a stuffed panda bear with a lampshade on its head (my personal favorite) and the Beatles on the wall. Win. Win. Win.

Lets see. I haven't really introduced my family! I haven't been able to get a picture of all of them together yet so this painting will have to do. Yeah. They have a painting of their family in their house. I think that's when you can say that you've "made it". When you have an enormous painting of your family on the wall.

This painting is a few years old, but humor me.

My dad is a classy Mexican. He doesn't speak a lot- but is an incredibly sweet man.

My mom is a ball of energy. Lets just say that she's the type of mom that wears matching track suits everywhere. She participates (along with a few other mothers) in the kids band at school, twirling her baton. Yeah. She's pretty sweet.

The older brother Edgar is my age but I hardly see him. He's usually at school or with his girlfriend. But, he's super nice from what I've seen of him.

The next older sister's name is Ruby and she's 19. I also don't see her that often because she's at school or with her boyfriend. But, she knows a lot of English and is extremely helpful.

The littlest sister's name is Fany (Stephany). She goes to my school and so I know her the best. She's 11 I think, and super sweet! I talk to her ALL OF THE TIME, and probably have the best relationship with her.

There is also another teacher staying in the other bedroom in the apartment whos name is Ema. She's about 25 and teaches here and Puebla- so I only see her a couple nights a week. But, we talk a lot. I help her with her English and she helps me with her Spanish.

So, I know that you're asking what you have to do in Mexico to be a person that has your family painting on the wall, right? Well, my host dad is in the clothing business. He owns a factory that distresses jeans and makes shirts. So, next time you buy an American Eagle or Aeropostale shirt, know that it might have come from my house in Mexico.

And taken up all of the couch space....

Well guys. That's all that I have! My house and host family are great! My Spanish is slowly but surely progressing, and I'm smiling again. See?

Thanks to all of the prayers, phone calls, emails, etc. that I've received!

The Last Stretch

I'm going to try and make this next post sound the lest pessimistic as possible.

This week has been one of the busiest that I've ever experienced. It's also been one of the hardest. One of my teachers came down with 4 out of the 5 types of typhoid and salmonella. Yeah. Pretty rough. She's doing much better and is teaching today- seriously a miracle.

When one of the teachers is sick, that means that I go in and teach- and let me tell you that I have never had my patience tested so much in my life. I'd like to think that I'm a pretty talented teacher in the Kindergarten levels- but when we get to Elementary levels, it gets pretty complicated for me. I had never taught those levels when I was in Cancun before, and though I understand the theory, I struggle. I definitely gave a fair share of prayers before each and every class. The Lord definitely blessed me with patience and a clear mind. Nevertheless, it doesn't mean that the experience was any less difficult. It's experiences like that that make me worry what kind of mother I'll be.

My host family is continually awesome. Today, my host mom brought out pozole for lunch. When I asked why the rest of the family wasn't going to join us, she said that they didn't like pozole and that she bought it for me because she knew it was my favorite. How sweet!

I never considered how blessed I was with my health until today. 3 of my 4 teachers have come down with something serious (as in they've missed a few days of teaching because of it). I'm incredibly blessed to not have had something more serious than food poisoning. (Knock on wood).

I have been really missing home recently. I'll be home in a month- which is both discouraging and encouraging at the same time. Overall, 4 weeks isn't too long in comparison, but it feels like a lifetime away.

On that note, I really would like to hear more from people back in the states- so if you have a spare minute, I would love to hear from you! Let me know when you can chat and I'll give you a call then. I hate this whole scheduling thing, it feels so impersonal. "I'll try and squeeze you in between 3 and 4..." But, when you don't have a phone number and can only give outgoing calls, it becomes necessary. So, message me please!

Also, I would appreciate some prayers if at all possible....

This Week in Collage

I decided to do a "This Week in Collage" (the picture looks like it says "this week in cottage") to direct my comments and to remind me what happened this week. As things are slowly shutting down, it gets more and more difficult to remember what I did the previous day- much less the whole week.

I only have 5 more weeks in Mexico! Shocking eh? Though I'm excited to go home and see friends and family, I'm trying to enjoy each and every moment and get a lot accomplished. That's one thing I regretted from my Cancun experience- that I never really stopped and enjoyed the ride. I was so excited to go home that I forgot where I was and what an amazing experience I was having. So, I've been working hard to look around at where I am every once and a while- which makes the experience that much more memorable and beneficial.

So, I'm going to attempt to explain about each of my collage items. I am incredibly passionate about each one of them- so pay attention!

In case some of you didn't know, I use a google phone to stay in contact with everyone. It's available through Gmail and only costs 1 cent a minute! I just barely put more money on it and I'm anxious to use the rest of it so it won't go to waste! I had quite a few memorable conversations and I'm so thankful to all of those who take an hour or so out of their day so I can chat with them :)

Spanish! I've been speaking more Spanish than I ever have in my entire life! My new host family doesn't really speak English and so I'm continuously listening, or speaking in Spanish. Even the kids who know English don't speak in English at home because they want their parents to feel included in their conversations. I'm so excited that I've been able to practice so much!

The Penafiel soda bottle is for a culture class that we had on Tuesday where we went and got a tour of the Penafiel soda factory. They've been around since about 1918! It all started out with a spring that was rumored to have medicinal purposes. In fact, hundreds of years ago, the ruler of Mexico asked that people bring him this special water from Tehuacan to Mexico City (a 5ish hour DRIVE). So, it's pretty special and incredibly famous. It was interesting to learn some of Tehuacan's claims to fame.

The shrimp dish is because I LOVE shrimp and my host mom made me some the other day. Seriously, it was from heaven- and I told her so.

This next chocolate chip story may not be understood by the general American population. I'll try to explain my excitement in the best way possible: There are no chocolate chips in Mexico. There just aren't. You can buy chocolate chip cookies in the store, but there are no chocolate chips available for purchase. Then, I saw that my host family had some chocolate chips in their cupboard. I immediately asked them where they got them. They told me of a magical store a few blocks away that sold lots of bakery/American goodies. Though it took me a few minutes to actually find the store- I was amazed! There was TONS of bakery items! AND there was CHOCOLATE CHIPS!!! I immediately bought a kilo (about 2 pounds) of chocolate chips without thinking. I'm incredibly excited to use them for chocolate chips in the coming weeks. My mouth is watering just thinking of the possibilities.

I watched Taken. One of my favorite movies- and for someone that doesn't really enjoy action movies, that's saying something.

We made no bake cookies in school. WITH NUTELLA!!! Yummy!

I read The Hunger Games in two days. I can't really talk about it that much because or else the urge to find and immediately read the second book will be unbearable. I will say that it is literally one of the best books I've read- I could hardly put it down.

I've been continuously on Microsoft Word the past few days updating information about classes, vacations, and Tehuacan in general for future teachers that come here.

The last is an album that I absolutely LOVE. I found about this artist from a friend. So, when I was doing my research I found out that he was giving out some songs off his newest album FREE. He really is amazing so if you'd like to listen or download those songs you can at this website: http://noisetrade.com/benrector

He is now one of my all-time favorite artists. :) I hope that all of you enjoy him to, but if not- you now have some free music right?

I hope that everyone is having a great week! I pray for most of you everyday. (I say most of you because you never know what creepers are looking at this blog haha). Much love from Mexico.

Some Stories

I know! Two blog posts in one week! I'm on a roll! I was planning on waiting, but I decided that there's been so much news that I might as well blog about it.

So, here's some stories that have happened in my life recently:

I've moved host families. This has been incredibly interesting and even though I'm missing one of my favorite jackets, the move went without a hitch. I moved about a block away into another student's house. The house is beautiful and amazing- but what is more amazing is the people that live in said house. My host parents are super sweet and always ask me how I'm doing. Am I hungry? Am I tired? Do I need anything? They don't speak any English, which is both a positive and a negative. It's difficult to keep a flowing conversation because the questions that I know how to ask are limited. But, I have found that I can understand much more than I thought! I've already learned so much, it's almost become overwhelming. But, I know that it always gets harder before it gets easier. But, I'm so thankful to be in another amazing family that cares so much about me.

One lesson that I've learned since being in this family is that if you say that you like something (like food) you really should MEAN IT, because you'll be eating that everyday. For example, I said that I like fruit the first day with yogurt and granola, and I had that the first morning. This morning, I woke up to an ENORMOUS bowl of fruit salad. It was so big, I honestly thought that it was for everyone in the family. No worries, it was only for me. I told my host mom that I couldn't eat everything in the bowl and she said "No worries, I'll pack it in your lunch". Then, when I got home from school my mother immediately prepared me another large bowl of diced fruit. I watched her as she diced it (which I again assumed was for the whole family). It consisted of: a half a cantalope, 2 apples, 1 large banana, and about a cup of yogurt. Oh my. It's a good thing that I really DO like fruit.

Sometimes Mexicans are so funny. But, I love them so much for their generosity and willingness to please.

There are so many things that I've been blessed with in this house- I can hardly name them all. But, I know that the Lord knew of my needs and put me in a house that could fulfill all of them.

Second, I have a story to tell.

I woke up this morning not feeling very well. But, I decided that I should just suck it up and go to school anyway because my new host mom would probably worry and I didn't want her to think that she just adopted an invalid. I decided that I would go to school and lay down in the back room. When I was at Spanish class, I found out that one of my teachers was sick and couldn't teach that day. Let's be honest, I was pretty bummed that I had to teach. I had a list of things that I needed to get done, and I didn't like changing my plans at the last minute. Plus, I didn't have a lesson planned and I didn't want to take the time to plan them. Plus- I was sick! The last thing I felt like doing was teach kids all day. I talked to Rachael (the director) I asked if I could go with her to the pharmacy to meet up with this teacher to see how she was doing.

When Rachael and I met up with the teacher at the pharmacy, I'll just say that she looked TERRIBLE. I instantly felt so bad for having those lazy thoughts before about teaching. I instantly broke into tears as I hugged her. I hate seeing people sick.

After the pharmacy, we went to this teacher's house. Rachel was trying to schedule some missionaries to come over and her cell phone died. She had to run home to get it charged and said that she would text me and let me know what was happening with the missionaries. So, I walked upstairs to the teacher's room to talk with her. What did I do when I laid down beside her? I burst into tears again! I honestly am the worst friend!

Then, his teacher put her arms around me and started comforting ME.

I can't even express my love and gratitude for this teacher. She has such a love and life in her. She is such a great example to me in my life. Don't get me wrong, I think the same for all of my teachers and almost everyone in my life. But, this sweet girl gave me a great "aha" moment that told me that I should be more grateful for the things I do have in my life. She taught me a great lesson about love, comfort, and being a good friend.

Sometimes life isn't great. But, there is always someone out there that has it worse than you right now. So, reach out and help them if you can! It will be their influence that will comfort you and make you realize everything that you have.

I hope that all made sense. It's pretty late and I'm really tired :)

Taxco was a Blast-co!

Oh Taxco! I'm missing that beautiful city already.

Yes. That's the cathedral- not a palace.

For those of you who don't already know, Taxco is another "Magic-City" a couple hours south of Mexico City near Cuernavaca. It's a total of about 6 hours away- with another 2 hours of being in bus stations. So, it's been a long weekend full of traveling.

We left for Taxco at 5:15 in the morning on Saturday and arrived in Taxco around 1:00 or 2:00. We looked around at some of the sights and stores and headed off to where we were going to stay pretty early in the evening.

Now here's probably the most exciting part of the whole trip! Guess where the girls and I stayed? Just guess! We stayed at a MONESTARY!!! How cool is that?!? The ladies at the monestary were probably some of the nicest people that I've ever met in my entire life. The rooms were nice and comfortable- the bathroom had some intense and beautiful tilework, they fed us breakfast and dinner everyday, it was simply amazing! They are going to heaven. For sure. Did I mention that this is all free? Don't worry, we all donated some money. It was the least that we could do for these sweet ladies.

Oh. There were some enormous spiders outside our bedrooms. Take a look at these babies.

The next day we tried to make it to a Taxco branch for their services, but we didn't make it in time. In Mexico, they shut the doors during the sacrament so if you aren't on time, you don't get to take the sacrament. This is for sure a bummer, but a good way to make sure that everyone is on time to church.

Then, we took a combi to "Las Grutas" (the caves). When I read about these cave before going, I thought that they were going to be smaller, cool looking stalagtites and stalagmites. I never expected that we'd be entering a cave that is miles long and each room the size of a football stadium! It was absolutely enormous and the sights were gorgeous! I've never seen anything like it before. These pictures don't even do it justice, but close your eyes and try and imagine. Great huh?

After our long and tretourous hike through the caves, we were all extremely exausted and weren't up for much more than looking at some stores. This may not seem so exciting, but even walking through the city is exausting. The hills are intense!!! But, it's a BEAUTIFUL CITY! We also had the chance to look through a museum.

The last day, our bus left pretty early in the morning so we quickly got the last of the things that we needed and headed off. We got back home at 7:00 that night.

So, it was an exausting but amazing vacation. I'm so glad that I've been able to have so many incredible opportunities in my life and to see so many beautiful places in the world!

In other news- I'm changing host families (for reasons which will remain underwraps). I'm incredibly excited to be with this new host family and I hope that I can learn from them as much as I learned from my last host family. I move tomorrow and I've still got a whole list of things that I need to do before I leave.

Some more exciting news is that I got accepted to BYU-Idaho! I don't know what my track assignment is right now, but I'll keep everybody posted.

I've heard from a lot of you in the last week and it's been so awesome! Keep up the emails and phone calls- I enjoy every single one!