Keeping up with Kamber

I am the second child, second daughter, second to Kamber...anyone who knows her, knows that I have a lot of potential to live up to. I have a lot to keep up with. Everyone loves Kamber! And she is so good at everything! She is creative, crafty, cute, stylish, happy, loving, and more recently a runner. A marathoner actually!

(Kamber and Kari before the race, it was cold and early! 

This was a first for both of them...they had no idea what was ahead of them!)

That is right, I now have struggle to keep up with her amazing endurance. Last weekend, she ran in one of the hardest marathons for her first ever marathon. I was lucky enough to be in Utah so that I could be there to cheer her on and share that great accomplishment with her. I was supposed to, at least, but I don't think I did quite what she had in mind. I decided to run the last couple of miles with her to keep her spirits up and cheer her on during the hardest part of the race. Due to circumstances out of my control I got dropped off at a random part on the course ahead of her by 30 mins or so. We did eventually meet up, and I was some how able to keep pace with her for a while. Keep in mind, she had been running for 3.5-4 hours already, most of which was hills! (we were running in the canyon) so her pace was a bit slower and she was pretty worn out. I was fresh ... a little too fresh (as in my muscles haven't been stressed by running very far in a very long time) and was able to keep up with her and her friend Kari (both pictured above). And let me tell you, those were some long miles!!  I kept pace until her friend stopped for a water break. I assumed Kamber would stop too, but when she didn't I had already lost my momentum and was really struggling to catch up the few feet that she had gained. Luckily, my Kamber is understanding (and probably felt like I was slowing her down) and told me that I didn't have to keep up with her. I ended up finishing the last mile or so with Kari and finishing with Kamber cheering me on.

Though it seems a little backward, this is how being Kamber's younger sister goes. That's how it has always been. She doesn't care when I fall short or end up needing help and encouragement (because I always do). Even when I was supposed to be giving it to her. She keeps pressing forward. She runs ahead and then turns back to come and get me! She doesn't think any less of me and I know that she loves me. I could not have asked for a better sister!

Great job Kamber! Thanks for setting the pace for me and always being willing to turn around for me!

I'm Back!

I am back from this extended summer break from blogging. I have had quite the summer and it has been fun, but now it's time to buckle down, get a schedule and do some writing.

I'M BACK:

      From my second year at BYU (Brigham Young University) 
            from our family trip to southern Utah for a fun filled family reunion.
     from a month in Kansas City where I was working as a nanny of four adorable children.
 to working with two year olds at a preschool/daycare place.
             NOT back at school for the Fall semester, because I have deferred for eighteen months so that I can serve as a full time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
        from my recent trip out West to Utah, where I spent ten short days trying to spend as much time with my family and friends before I leave on a mission...Oh yea! Did I say I am going on a mission?!?! More to come on that later (what is a mission? Where am I going? When am I going? What am I going to do?)

I have a little over a month to write before I leave. I guess I'll get blogging.

Oh the places these shoes have been

After a faulty airplane, seven hours exploring the Denver airport, a yummy lunch and dinner, and following my adventurous shoes...I finally made it back home to Springfield!

The airplane that was supposed to take me from Salt Lake to Denver had some...problems. I wasn't really worried about being late or having to spend some time at an airport, but I was really worried about staying on the plane! We tried to take off and were actually partially off the ground and the plane shut down. Not exactly what is supposed to happen. They said it was a computer problem... they ran some tests and then went back to the gate to have a mechanic check it out. He gave us the ok to leave and after some paperwork we were back on the runway only to have the exact same thing happen. I was really scared at this point. I wanted more than anything to tell us that there was another plane waiting for us, but no such luck. But third time was the charm. We landed three hours later than we were supposed to many of us missing our connecting flight. I got to stand in a line of angry passengers while the flight attendants worked hard to help everyone. I was very pleased with their patience and their help.


 I ended up booked on the next flight to Springfield but it wasn't going to for another six or seven hours. The nice lady at the counter gave me two food vouchers and made sure my bags were going to be on the right flight. The gentleman at Panda Express (my choice for lunch) added a drink and an egg roll so that I could use the whole voucher. I was so glad there were people who were looking after me.

After lunch I still had loads of time to kill. I decided to do some writing in my journal about my eventful flight but that didn't take nearly enough time... So I went on an adventure. The Denver Airport is definitely bigger than Springfield or Branson and even bigger than Salt Lake City, but it was not nearly big enough to keep me exploring for five hours. I ended up taking a nap after walking through the whole airport two or three times. And then I went around a couple of other times to scout out the options for dinner.

The flight to Springfield was very nice. Though it was a small plane with little room,

 I was lucky enough to have an empty seat next to me so I was able to take the window and stretch out a little more than normal.

Finally my feet made it back to Springfield (with it's interesting water patterned carpets).

LDS Temples

All around the world are beautiful Mormon (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints or LDS)temples. Each is unique and beautiful in it's own way yet they all are built for the same reason and serve for the same purposes.



(My family in 1997, during the open house of the Saint Louis Missouri Temple)
Before each temple is dedicated, an open house is held for the public and those not of our faith to come inside.

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(The girls in my family in 2002, during the Nauvoo Illinois Temple open house).


(My family in 2010 in front of the Salt Lake City Utah Temple).



This spring my family will once again be able to go to another open house for another temple. The Kansas City Temple (pictured above) will be open to the public April 7-21. Though it is free, there are limited tickets. If you are interested you can reserve your ticket at https://templeopenhouse.lds.org/ This is truly an amazing experience and I highly encourage you to try to attend.

If you have questions or want to know more about Mormon temples, feel free to visit http://www.lds.org/church/temples

Things are rolling along

This semester seems to be flying by (sorry for slacking on the blogging), I am almost halfway done with this winter semester. So far it has been just as, if not more, enjoyable as all the rest. So I am just going to keep rolling with it.

I am planning on staying in Utah for the summer, but hopefully I will be able to make it home for a week or two. My ideal plan would be to stay with my grandparents and work as in intern at Deseret Book. I am not sure how that is going to turn out we will just have to see.

Inky

Yes, that is ink on my hand, but no, I didn't write hard enough for it to explode in my hand. I just happened to write a little without realizing that it had exploded in my bag. Then, because I didn't want to get distracted by leaving this little section of the library, I tried to clean it off with hand sanitizer. Just because this might happen to you, let me just forewarn you that this doesn't work. And ink gets EVERYWHERE! Not only was it all over my hands but there were smears all over my papers, on other pens, and my headphones. Because of the last one I ended up with some ink in my ears. Not to mention the ink smeared on my face. What an adventure, a nice distraction from my paper. I can't help but wonder what the guy at the checkout counter was thinking when I kept coming back for hand sanitizer, each time with a little more ink smeared on my face.

I am getting so close to the end of the semester (only 3 early morning finals, one take home final, and one/two papers left) which means lots of studying and writing. I am not sure if I have ever spent so much time in a library in my whole life. There have been a few days that I leave 28 (my apartment) at 7:30 and don't get back to 28 until midnight. Today (a Saturday!) I left at 8:45 and am not quite sure when I will be getting back, maybe 10 or 11? But honestly I don't mind. It's not like I have had more to do (ok maybe I do), I just found that I get a whole lot more done while I am tucked away in a quiet place in the library.

(countdown til the end of the semester & the end of finals til April)

I decided to start a countdown at work with a ridiculously long title. I guess I should have taken a more recent picture because there are less than 10 days left!

Christmas is just around the corner...

Kid History - Episode 7 (Christmas) - by BoredShortsTV

I am not sure how popular Kid History is, but I thought I would share. "Christmas is a magical time of joy and wonder...Like you wonder when you are gonna get to open presents." This has so much truth to the thoughts that kids have I just love it!