I'm gone!

I leave tomorrow for my mission! Ahh I can't believe it!

If you want to have updates of my mission life, my sister will be keeping a blog with my weekly emails to my family.

sisterkatelynempey.blogspot.com

I love you all and I will see you in 18 months!

A Monday in My Shoes

Facts about Southwest:

• Southwest Airlines has it's headquarters in Dallas Texas.
• It services nearly 3,400 flights a day.
  
• The net income for the company in 2010 was $459 million.
  
• In 2010 they helped 88 million people travel across the United States.
  
• Southwest has 548 airplanes.
• Southwest's Average passenger fare is $130.27 one-way, and the average passenger trip length is about 885 miles.
• It has 35,000 employees, my uncle being one of them.

My uncle is a pilot for Southwest Airlines. We are blessed to at times get "buddy pass" tickets from him. That translates into being able to fly free of charge on any Southwest flight as long as we have the ticket in our hand. The downside, there has to be room on the plane. And this is where my adventure starts.

This last weekend I thoroughly enjoyed time back home. I drove with Rachael and Brady who were in town visiting.

The trip home kind of looked like this:

Well that might be a little exaggeration...but at the time I felt like it.

So the weekend came and went and I had a lot of fun being home. I had every intention on being back to Provo by Sunday night.

As a rule of thumb, try not to use the Buddy Pass on a Sunday. Sunday travel is always busier than lets say a Tuesday-Thursday. On top of busy weekend travel, Southwest has recently decided to get rid of their nonstop service from Spokane to Salt Lake.

So on average the travel time from Point A to Point B takes 3 hrs longer than it would doing a nonstop flight.

With that in mind, I needed to get back to Provo and we were saving money by using the Buddy Pass.

Strike One: all the flights were full on Sunday. So we took off to the airport Monday morning (7:30am) to catch an assuming "wide open" flight at 10:10. I get to the customer service counter (past security but before the gate) and they tell me I probably won't get on because the flight was OVERBOOKED. But if it was full, I would get on the next available flight. 3 1/2 hours and 3 flights later, I was able to get on a flight.

Talk about stress relief...for about 5 minutes. As I was obtaining my boarding pass, the nice customer service lady said that "it wasn't looking good" from Las Vegas to Salt Lake and I might not be able to get on....great. There were 136 booked for the flight and 14 non-revenue (I'm apart of the 14).

I arrive at Las Vegas at approximately 3:50 pm...and my supposed flight (if I get on) won't be leaving until 6:30.

More waiting....(in nervousness mind you) I wouldn't know if I can get on the plane until everyone is checked in, meaning about 10 minutes before the plane leaves the gate. Unfortunately, if I didn't get on, I would have to wait for the next flight leaving at 9:05, and that was even more booked than the 6:30 flight...and that's the last flight of the day.

I sit at the gate at 6:05, when the plane starts to board. 6:15....no standby passengers called. 6:19, 3 standby passengers get called to board (I'm not one of them). 6:20, two standby passengers get called and they don't come up to claim their boarding passes. 6:21, myself and another stand by passenger get called to get our boarding passes. The gate manager actually had to reopen the door to let us in. 6:24, I am taking my seat.

At that point I was giddy with happiness, but torn with paranoid. I honestly believed that there would be some mistake and a paying passenger would show up and they would make me get off.

Even after we were taxiing before take off, I was thinking they could still turn the plane around and make me get off. I didn't stop worrying about it until we were taking off.

I have never been so happy to be on that plane before in my life. I felt soooo much relief. And I have never been so happy to see the Utah Valley before in my life...well maybe...10:00pm: I was back to Carly's house. Thinking of the crazy miracle of the day.

Moral of the story: I would have gotten back quicker if I drove...that shouldn't be the case.

Summer Plans

I love summer.
I love the carefree life that is associated with summer.
I love that summer is sunny.
I love that summer is a perfect time to be ambitious and start goals.
I love that summer is a perfect time to accomplish goals.
I love that summer is a time to finally be able to relax and once in a while enjoy the sun.
I love that summer screams family and friend time.
I love that summer gives you that time.

My summer plans are quite simple.
I've decided it's about time to enjoy the simple life.
The life of a single adult.
I'm going to enjoy my family.
I'm going to enjoy the sun. I'm going to enjoy life with my friends.
I'm going to enjoy life on the farm. I'm going to work hard and get ready.
I'm going to prepare for the life of a future missionary!

That's right, I've decided to serve a mission. I'm soooo excited and I can't wait. But I have 5 months of waiting!

Oh ya, so I got my mission call. I finished my papers last tuesday (5/10) and I got the letter in the mail yesterday (5/18). It was such a fast turn around...I wasn't really expecting it. I was so surprised when I saw the letter on the counter I think my heart stopped. My sister thoroughly enjoyed watching me FREAK out and try to keep my cool. But regardless... It came. And after the longest and most nerve wracking and annoying 7 hours possible, I got to open my call.

Ta-Da!

I'm going to the BRAZIL LONDRINA mission.

I report to the Brazil MTC on October 19th!

Ya that is exactly 5 months away.
Ya, that is a really long time.
Ya, I will have a blast :D
Ya, I will die of humidity (Southern Brazil has around 75% humidity close to year round).
Ya, it will be a crazy 18 months.
Ya, I don't know what I'm doing.
Ya, I am overwhelmed.
Ya, I am scared.
And ya, I am excited and can't wait!

So what are my summer plans exactly?

• -I plan on getting my visa figured out
• -I plan on spending a month having fun with my nieces and nephews...and of course my sisters!
• -I plan on reading a book (not sure the book yet, but I'm reading it)
• -I plan on working out/exercising ALL the time
• -I plan on eating a lot of American food
• -I plan on reading a lot from Preach My Gospel
• -I plan on learning a basic foundation of Portuguese
• -I plan on going to Lake Powel

In the fall I plan on:

• -Going to Provo to hang out with friends
• -Cleaning out my room and throwing away some old clothes
• -Packing for 18 months in 2 suitcases (I pack 1 suitcase for 1 week!...uh-oh...)
• -Cutting my hair (I need something that I won't want to chop off myself while I'm there)
• -Having my parents cook for me :D

Most importantly, on October 19th, I plan on arriving at the MTC in Brazil (probably being a basket case), trying to put on a brave face and saying, "I'm ready to be here".

On October 19th I plan on being a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Annoyance

So currently, I am taking ASL 101. It has been fascinating to learn how to talk in a "different" language. While I'm not brave enough to talk to deaf people, it's still been a valued learning experience for me. Even now, I find myself becoming bilingual to the point where I'm using both sign and english. And it's a valuable tool when I'm sitting in church and we of course need to be quiet...and I really want to tell my roommate something. Just sign to her and we can still be quiet and have a conversation at the same time. The only problem I have found with that is that most people know at least the alphabet if not more, and you never know who knows it or not so we still have to be careful who we are talking about.

Yesterday, I learned the sign for annoyance and bother. And I'm a complete geek, but I am currently visualizing me doing this sign over and over again right now...

It's snowing...snowing and sticking to the ground on April 8th.


~Funny story. I woke up and it was raining. It made me really happy for mainly the reason that I didn't wake up to a fresh 4 inches of snow on the ground. So I started picking out my clothes for the day, planing for rain. Then I just randomly look outside and it was snowing! It was MAGIC. So I promptly put those clothes away and got out clothes to prep for a winter storm. Boots and all. ~


.....and I have a wedding I'm going to today...fun!

FYI, I googled 'spring in utah' and the first picture that came up...this one

...and I thought I was going to be able to keep my winter boots packed away until next winter...

...........ha............

....ha...................................

................ha....................

Our Perfect Miracle

A friend once told me that falling in love with your forever companion is a miracle. The more that I've grown up {And still have a lot to go mind you} I have found out more and more that that's true.

I've gone from being sad...to being hopeless...back to being full of faith.

Why love is a miracle:

• Because if you think about it...it's finding someone at the exact same time that is looking for the exact same thing
• it could change your mind from being totally against being married to wanting that person forever
  
• you wanting to be with someone forever
• that person being the perfect fit
  
• you feeling "right" about that

...if you don't think that's a miracle, then I think you don't have to read my post anymore.

For three of my REALLY good friends, they are getting married. And to be honest, I could not be happier for them.

Cindy and Matthew: August 21st

For some...they know two weeks after they are dating.

And they're roommates could tell right away. She knew it when it didn't take any extra thought.

I once heard Cindy say "I love him. I just said it. I didn't have think about it. I just know that I love him. I didn't have to force myself to say it."

Coriann and Tucker: August 27th

For others, it just happens and a concept that was was so foreign and so far into the future...seems alright and exciting now.

No longer are they scared for marriage...now they are "ready" {if you can ever be completely ready for marriage}.

Coriann once told me "I was so against marriage. And it was only because I hadn't found the right one. Now...I am so ready to be married. All I care about now is marrying Tucker, I wish it was tomorrow."

Bryan and Dylan: October 7th

And finally for others, it's when you can make a decision...the biggest one...and you know without a doubt that no other plans make a difference.

Instead those plans, mean nothing to this. Bryan received her mission call and then she turned it down. She knew that this guy was for real and nothing else mattered.

She told me "Dylan is the most amazing person I know and all that matters is that I marrying him. I have NEVER been so certain of anything in my life."

To these three, congratulations and I wish you the best. You did it! You found them. There couldn't be any three people that are more deserving than you right now. I will be there to see you at the temple! Wouldn't miss it for anything.

To the rest of my readers, who have found your companion: Take a moment to thank them for what they are...

Your Perfect Miracle

10 Things

Yup, you guessed it. I'm home for the summer and loving it.

So here is a list of 10 things I hate about the farm (gotta take the bad with the good) and 10 things I LOVE about the farm.

10 Things I Hate About the Farm

1) the Bugs!
{The amount of bugs increases I swear 10 fold when you go out to the farm, therefore increasing the bugs splattered on your car, the bugs found in your house, and the mosquitos biting you}

2) the Dirt!
{Seriously, dirt everywhere. Where sometimes that is a good thing, it can also be a bad. Case in point, we go to town and my mom gets her car washed. By the time that we pull into our home, there was already a nice layer of dirt on it}


3) the SLOW internet
{Wow, wow. Can I say I have to keep myself occupied by opening 3 different tabs AND playing a game AND eating all at the same time. And if you want to watch videos or listen to music...forget about it}

4) the Inconvenience of it all
{Well that about says it all. After all, town is at least 30min away, meaning the closest grocery store}

5) No take-out
{If we bring any food home, we have to buy it not warm and bring it back and then cook it}

6) Everyone knows everyone
{And I think I should include that everyone is related to everyone in our ward and this area. The thing is is that people are awesome here, but regardless of what is going on, they always think that it is their business to know. Nothing is private here in good ole Basin City}

7) well....that's about as far as I got...I can't think of anymore.

10 Things I LOVE about the farm

1) Wide open and beautiful
{It is so beautiful out here and it is so green and everything. It's actually pretty hard to describe the beauty in a small blog post...and I could talk forever about it}

2) Lack of Concrete
{I forget how much I despise concrete until I'm back home. It is a nice trade off to get away from the concrete and trade it for green, even dirt and weeds, which I mentioned before.}

3) The air
{It is cooler here, because of lack of concrete, and now there are water sprinklers to cool the crops down. Also, there isn't as many cars, so that is really nice to keep the air clear}

4) The stars
{While I might be a little prideful in this, I think there is no place better to see the stars then my home. You don't have to go anywhere and you can see a beautiful night sky because there are no city lights}

5) the People
{the people in my ward and the people in our community are amazing. They are so warm and welcoming and really care about us. As previously mentioned, that can be a problem, but they are the kind of people that would give the shirt off their back for you and they are very humble}

6) the lack of "stuff"
{cars rarely go by and you don't see buildings wherever you go and it's replaced by fields, it's awesome}

7) Sunsets and Sunrises
{This is unique to Utah, but we can never see sunrises and sunsets. Here, you can enjoy both and man, they are gorgeous. Something that everyone needs to experience.}

8) you don't have to see people
{I could go a week without talking to anyone other than my family. And lets face it, sometimes people annoy me and it's really nice to not have to be in contact with anyone...even though I love you all.}

9) Relaxation
{Even when it is the busiest time of the year, people still know how to relax and enjoy life in general. Because town is so far away, we learn to have fun out here, even if that means sitting in a lawn chair or taking an afternoon nap}

10) it's my HOME
{I think I could probably keep on going and keep on talking about home and how much I love it...after all, my post is called "10 Things"}

I am home for 2 months and I'm so excited. It feels so good to be home. And who said I can't live in two different places :)

Someday...

Someday...this is what I hope to own...someday

So I have this philosophy about never's. While that is for another post, I have one "never" that is no longer true. I said that I never wanted an iPhone. They are too big, they can't fit in a pocket very well, and there is too much stuff on the phone that I won't use. Well...now I want one badly. I actually wanted one for Christmas, but the AT&T 2-year contract for my phone wasn't up but as of the end of April...it is!

But here's the thing.
I feel like I can't get one unless I get the iPhone4. I could get the 3GS for less money and no patience but I can't do that...no not me. Of course everyone else wants one too. It was supposed to be released on June 24th...ya that's about when I was planning on getting it. NOW it's already back-ordered until the middle of July because more people wanted it then they planned.

And who knows if I'll get one soon after it comes out...it could be months until I can actually get one. Well that might be an exaggeration.


But you never know, it might be like the iPad where everyone was lining up outside the Apple stores to get their hands on one. Not exactly my ideal situation.

So back to my original predicament...

Someday...someday I hope to hold my very own in my hands :)

Obsession

So I have a confession to make. I am thoroughly obsessed with taking pictures. Recently, I was able to get into an intro to photography class at BYU and I absolutely LOVED it. I learned so much and the class was only 7 weeks long. But in any case, it was a blast. So I am an aspiring photographer and if I had time in my life...I would take pictures all day long and be very happy doing so. So this is my new desire on my life. I want to get into the photography program at BYU really bad. But it's near impossible to get into. So I applied once, my freshman year at BYU and didn't get in. So now, I'm going to apply for the last time this November. I want to take pictures and more pictures before that time so I can try as hard as I can to be able to get in. But alas, if I don't get in, that's ok. Because I'll still be able to get better and use photography as a hobby which would be just as fun.
My roommates can attest to the fact that I love it. I get really giddy taking pictures and I take hundreds at one time. One Saturday I spent hours taking pictures and that's what I did for my activity that day...and as geeky as that sounds...it was well worth it.
People ask me what I like taking pictures of and I'm not sure. At times I like taking pictures of scenery, sometimes of abstract objects, but right now I like taking pictures of people. I want to portray real life in a photograph.
People also ask me what I want to do with photography, like my occupation. And honestly...anything. As not concrete as that sounds, taking pictures of anything would be awesome. Being my own photographer, really awesome. Being a photographer for a magazine...also awesome. Working for any company taking pictures would be really fun.
So regardless of what I do, I want to be able to constantly learn because anything you are good at, you can always become better and learn more.
Here is just a couple of pictures that I've taken. Warning: Don't expect something amazing...because I hate to disappoint. It's a work in progress :)

Gummi Bears. The colors were actually really fun to take pictures of. Then I promptly ate them after they were done with their photoshoot.

Irene has been my permanent model and she really hasn't complained a whole lot. We had a lot of fun with this photoshoot. I love my roommates because they love having their pictures taken...so they help out however they can ;)

Sleep...the lack thereof

Alright...alright...I am really bad at blogging if most of you haven't noticed. To my blog: I'm sorry, you're feeling quite neglected I would imagine.

But I'm here at work. Sitting and trying to stay awake. I finished all of my projects and I'm just trying to come up with something to do...thus...blogging comes to mind. This is how my night last night went.

I was doing really well on time. I got all my homework done and I was getting prepped and ready to head to bed. My body can't function properly when I don't get enough hours of sleep but I was prepared to fully get the 8 hrs. Well waking up at six is fine on those days when I get enough sleep. But on average for the last 3 nights, I have been able to get 5 hours of sleep, last night being the worst with four. And it's not like I was working on a project or doing homework...I actually did nothing of the sort.

I decided to make sugar cookies for my visiting teachees and my roommates visiting teachees as well. And then we made little bags that turned out fairly cute for Valentine's Day for them (picture to come later). Well that took about until midnight.
And then a welcomed guest came and spent the night. An old roommate and good friend didn't want to head home at midnight to just wake up only a few hours later, like myself, and I don't blame her at all and was very excited to see her. So of course a few roommates and I stayed up and talked (didn't clean up the kitchen from our mess) for two hours. Bed then came to me a little past 2 when I could not force my eyes open any longer and received a four hour nap.

This morning/day has already proven to be no exactly the best. I practically fell asleep already once at work and it's been an hour and a half since I got here...and this is my longest day of the week. From 11-6 on Wednesdays I practically live in the Benson building...aka chemistry...aka death.

So here we are back to present time...and now I'm awake. So to my blog: I thank you. Sometimes it's good not to do work at work...sometimes...maybe?

Oregon Coast

One of my joys in life is to go on vacation. I love being away from the normal life of which I am a part of. Currently, my family and I are in a beach house on the Oregon Coast in Lincoln City. I only had a couple of things I wanted to do...go on the beach...and eat food. But there is a couple of problems with that. I've eaten too much food and not been on the beach enough. We today instead of going on the beach and becoming beach bums, we are going to go shopping at a wonderful outlet mall. Shopping is a girls best friend...but not when you can hear the waves crashing against the shore. But in any case, I forgot how beautiful the coast is. It is so green and gorgeous. We went to the Tillamook Cheese factory yesterday and on our way back from a beautiful lighthouse, we drove the scenic route home. It actually didn't take too long, the kids were sleeping...and the road was right along the water. So my plans til I leave Saturday... go to the beach everyday for at least a couple of hours.


What's funny is the difference in beaches. 3 weeks ago, I was in Virginia and I went to the North Carolina beach in Outer Banks. The weather was beautiful and hot and the water was warm. We walk into the water here and I about freeze my feet off.


But either way, there is something about being on the ocean. It's really peaceful. Yesterday, I fell asleep outside on our top floor deck listening to the water. I was in a lawn chair and it got a little cold. So from my neck down I covered myself in a blanket. With the sunshine, it was a perfect situation and I slept for an hour.
In any case, it's been a good break. And it's good to spend time with family in the nature.

Unpacking

This is what the living room looks like a week after I came home for the summer. But I finally unpacked and the living room is clean. It took me long enough, but I did it. I've never taken this long to unpack. I sat there and looked at all of my stuff and I had absolutely no desire to deal with unpacking. I tell you, unpacking is very energy draining. I've been helping Rach and Brady move in and I can only be worth something for a couple of hours because I just get so tired. Then I look at my stuff and I don't even think about unpacking it. But now that it's done...it feels good. For a week it's been in the back of my head, me sitting here thinking "I need to get this done sometime". I decided yesterday my room was a mess so I might as well clean it and bring more in while I'm at it. It feels good and now my room is in order and I'm finally moved in for the summer.

The Bane of My Existence...

...cold sores. I have this disease. When I get stressed...these stupid things come out to haunt me on my lips. This week has been super stressful and three cold sores came out on my bottom lip. Pretty much I'm self-conscious of it. I've had them all my life. Nobody else can tell...except me of course.
But I do have a story about my cold-sore curse. In high school, I really got into chapstick and I swore by the fact that if I didn't put on chapstick as much as I did, then I would get cold sores. My mom didn't think so and she wanted me to get out of the habit. So I was going to be stubborn and prove to here that chapstick was my lip-saver. For three days I told her I wouldn't put on one bit of chapstick. Before the 3 days were up, I had the 2 biggest cold sores on my mouth I have EVER had. It pretty much was not fun. They were so big and stuck out from my mouth I swear almost a 1/2 inch.
Neadless to say, I won that battle and mom felt really bad about it. The problem is this though...It was so big everyone wouldn't ever look at my eyes when I talked to them, they would look at the growth on my mouth. But anyway, luckily I have this medicine I take now that speeds up the process of my cold sores, but it doesn't make them go away. But I'm luckily on my way out of this round.

Nieces and Nephews

I love my family. And I love my nieces and nephews. Each one is so different. I went over to Carly and Mike's last night and what did I come to? Noah following his mother around everywhere. And when she was stationary, he silently plays. While Kimi....holy crap. Kimi is the most crazy little person I think I've met. She had to tell me every single thing she could think of. She's getting pretty good at having her mouth catch up with her 100 mph brain. And somewhere in her random stories...one right after another...she had to tell me that she was a child of God, and so was I, and so was Irene, Bryan, and Cindy (my roomates). And as for Wendy and Rey and the now 3 kids...I hear plenty of stories. For one...during the summer when we went to Virginia, Sammy and Ally thought that it would be funny to switch clothes. So Sammy runs down in Ally's skirt and Ally runs down in Sammy's shorts. Or Sammy took Grandma's cellphone and thought it would be funny to take it. Ally is the biggest help and is so sweet...and Sammy...haha Sammy makes you laugh too much. And Penny is so beautiful and I can't wait to see her, just the way she looks wants me to sqeeze her.
So you ask what has brought this up? Well Rachael is getting bigger and bigger by the day...and more and more uncomfortable by the day...and well...I don't have to go through any of that crap. I can just enjoy another niece when she comes into the picture in a couple weeks. I am just so excited. I'm not going to be able to see Rachael at work anymore...so I plan on playing with that precious newborn almost every day...Rach and Brady...get ready! Hehe

I didn't have a choice

So I really didn't want to start my own blog...but I really didn't have a choice. Ok so I lied, I was going to but I was going to wait until I have nothing better in my life to do. But I couldn't help it...it's for a grade dang it! In my intro to facilities management class I am required to create a blog and use it. Yes I know...Facilities and Properties Management. The thing is, I'm trying something different out this semester. I am taking 4 intro classes for majors that I am considering because I am halfway through my sophomore year at BYU and I'm running out of generals...I need to figure out my life. So the approach I came up with was to take a bunch of different intro classes in majors I'm looking into. I'll keep you posted with what I decide to do. As of now, I am thinking about Food Science (or Food Industry Management), Adverstising, Exercise: Fitness and Welness Management, and then Facilities and Properties Management. But hopefully, by the end of the semester I've got it figured out...of I'm screw for life. Lucky for me huh?