Summer Shinanigans

This summer is nothing how I planned it. I planned on returning from Thailand, working constantly and jet setting off to China in just a few short months. Then I changed my plans, and anticipated spending the summer working and saving money in order to move up to Salt Lake in the fall. But I'm realizing every day, that sometimes we have plans. And sometimes Heavenly Father has plans for us that are completely different to our own. And when we finally let him in on the "plans" that we have, and are willing to adjust our plans to his just a little.


Life is sweet--so, so sweet. And just exactly what we need :) 
So, instead of preparing for China,  or packing up my belongings for a big move...
Instead, i've spent my summer kinda like this

I've gotten to spend some time with this cute kid! It's been nice since I feel like he totally forgot who I was while I was away for so long. Little heart breaker. 

Sheeela came and visted for a few days and that was a total blast! I'm trying to get her to move down here this fall, so naturally I had to show her all of the great things St. George has to offer. Namely... Dixie Rock, the Carrosel, my friends, Tuachan, Swig, Durangos, and Zion. We spent a day floating...(or in Katelyn and I's case...being drowned) down the Virgin River and that wasss.....an adventure. Here's to crossed fingers that I have my roomie back in just a few short weeks! 

Cooked some Thai food for the first time since being home! Delicious! Wish I had learned how to make more dishes, but I guess I can settle for some fried egg and rice.. holy yum. I'm suddenly starving. 

Took this cute lady to go see "Hairspray" out at Tuachan. Such fun! I feel bad sometimes that I don't get to spend more time with mom and dad anymore. It seems as if I am either working, or out with friends all the time--so It's nice when I get an evening or so to spend with those cuties! We loved Hairspray, Tuachan always does such a great job. But I'm tellin ya--GO SEE ALLADIN RIGHT NOW. It was awesome, and amazing and I want to see it a million more times. 

Ooofffff course, in typical St. George Summer fashion, I have racked up quite a few hours at the pool.

Finally have gotten to spend some time with this awesome guy! This is Elder Polatis (Ryan), a previous Companion of Cam's. Rumor has it....(okay, it's not really rumor because Cameron told me this about a million times) that this was his favorite companion on his mission. And I can totally see why. THESE GUYS ARE THE EXACT SAME. It's really the weirdest thing I've ever encountered, Ryan is like..a brown haired version of Cam and it's hilarious. Between the two of us exchanging stories about Cam, I'm pretty confident when I say that I think Ryan misses that boy the most. And that's saying a lot! 

Fourth of July came and went a little faster then I would have liked. BUT I did get to spend it with my Hansen infants as well as some of the family for a bit. We celebrated Dads birthday and ate delicious food. Twas delightful. 

...aaannnnd I got him the funniest card around. hahaha still making me laugh. 

Have spent quite a bit of time with these fun people! Soaking up all the time together before Adam moves to California in just a few short weeks. Ugh, makes my little heart break just thinking about it. Donnnn'ttt ggoooo! :( 

All in all, summer thus far has been a dream. Equal parts work and play and I could not be a happier girl. It hasn't been all fun in the sun of course. Life always brings it's little challenges....in the form of my stinkin car needing to be fixed and 7am shifts at work and of course others. But, looming new and exciting things likeee a new job as a CNA and an upcoming Staff Editor position on the Dixie sun to prepare for, and moving out with friends in the next few weeks! This girl, is a very happy one :) 

Island In The Sun.

I don't know whattt has been in the air these last few days--but something is seriously making me very Thai-sick, and I don't like it one bit. I'm so home-sick for my second home, my cute kids, some of my favorite girls, smoothies, fresh fruit, incredibly friendly people, bike rides, green everywhere amazing history and sights---that I sometimes think I will just get on the next flight over there and not look back.


So, I figured instead of doing the later...I would finally just blog about our Phuket trip that I have not told you guys about yet! ...I feel like it's due. 

Our adventures started out in Bangkok...and let me tell you, it was an adventure for sure. Bangkok is so different from any Thailand that I ever pictured. And I'm going to be honest--it was not my favorite! After living in such a small community for months, it was quite the shock to be finding our way around a massive city for a few days. Clinging on to our bags and sheilding our eyes from all of the questionable street vendors and their uh..."items" ... we realized we were not in our Phichit town anymore. 

We of course had a swell time though. We laugh, because our time spent in Bangkok was very Americanized.... we ate a ton of subway, found some Mexican food. And saw two, yes, two movies at the huge mall. Don't judge us, Hunger Games and Titanic in 3D could not wait. We were of course able to fit some culture in there as well. Heading to a floating market for the day! But not before a quick stop at this weird little train/market thing and a verrry nausiating van ride. 

Just one short day of flying from Bangkok, another nausiating van ride and THIS was our view for the next six days. It makes my heart seriously jump just looking at this picture!! I'm just going to say it, I love Phuket, and I wish every day could be spent with a view like this. And I also wish I could have that henna on my foot every day--because if I'm being honest....I loved that henna. And may or may not have been tempted to make it permanent. 

We spent our days like this. Lounging around the beach, meeting new friends, lounging around the beach... eating the most delicious spring roles. Shopping for cute swim suits, meeting new friends, lounging around the beach....swimming in the most glorious water, lathering ourselves every 30 minutes with SPF 50 and still getting fried aaannnd lounging around the beach. It could not have been a better six days. Just what we were looking for.

Our nights were spent a bit moreee..... active? One of our favorite things to do was to go out and dance at a few of the many night clubs that were around the beach. And I'll tell you what, dance we did!! We had a blast dancing with each other and meeting new friends from all over the world! Being offered drinks left and right was always entertaining as we explained to them we don't drink--but would love a bottle of water! Nobody could believe that five girls could be so much fun, and sober! Midway through the week, we met Scottie, Kieran, Dave, Ravi and Viv from Perth Australia, and ended up spending the next few days seeing them on and off. Such a great group of guys, and we still keep in touch with them today! 

Phuket was amazing. We cannot wait to go back! (And you better believe we are!) More than the beach, more than the spring rolls, and more than the dirt cheap swim suits--I think more than anything, we all miss the diversity of the area, and the seriously amazing people we were able to meet, and spend a few brief moments with. And if we're being honest..... we definitely can't wait to be back on that beach either.

Take Me Back.

I know that I have not even blogged about the last half of my Thailand adventures--and I will get to that. But I feel like I need to blog at this moment, about how much I miss it. The last month in Thailand was incredible. Easily one of the best months of my life, but trying at the same time. Summer term had just started, meaning that we got about a bazillion new kids and our class sizes more than doubled. It seemed like we were teaching less, and babysitting more and the days were long. But slowly we started to see progress with the new kids and that was so rewarding! Our last month we got to go on our long vacation to Phuket and that was amazing. Diannas parents got to come visit, and Neil as well. We got to spend one more long weekend in Chiang Mai, and though we weren't crazy about going for a 3rd time--we could not be more grateful we did. It was the perfect ending to a perfect four months. 

There is so much I miss about Thailand. I miss that every day was something just a little bit different. I miss starting off each day the same way--Angee waking up...then Shayla, Marci and then I. We'd eat toast and granola or yogurt. We didn't talk much--none of us were morning people. I miss more than I can even explain the little "Teacha, Teacha!" as we walked into our classrooms and Nest saying with his little fingers pinched close together... "Scoot little bit.." hahaha it only took half the semester to figure out what he was saying! I miss the bike rides and the smoothies, the street markets and spending time with Tang and her family. Swimming at the garden home and flat bike tires. I miss the friendliness of complete strangers and the looks we'd get for being white, ha! I miss trying new things and appreciating the familiar things back home that we'd miss. I miss our roomie talks and dinner time sitting around the table for hours sometimes just laughing and making up crazy scenerios. Napping for hours, all of us on the floor, in front of our only fan. Mostly though, I miss how simple life was. We had the necessities, our kiddos, us teachers and a few Baht...and we were perfectly happy. 

Life according to everybody's Iphones...but mine.

Happy Birthday To Me!! 

Well, I finally did it. I made it two decades and it's about time.
I feel like a completely different person and stuff.... 

No, just kidding. I feel exactly the same. However I do feel like more of a basket case. 

Is there such thing as a 20 year old crisis? 

For my birthday celebration, Katelyn and I decided to get together with a couple of our friends and rough it!
Who better then Spencer and Clay? Spence has been our friend for over six years now so we knew we could count on him to fend off the bears...and build fires and such. Though we froze, soaked our only bread, and got kicked off of our perfect campsite for danger of falling trees...we had a total blast and it was definitely a birthday to remember! 

Katelyn and I have been of course, working on our summer tans. Seeing each other whenever possible. It's difficult between jobs, family and different dates! hahaha wow, do we sound attached yet? 

Fathers day weekend was a blast!
Mom, Dad, Kenz and I headed up to So. Cal for cousin Steve's temple sealing. 

We met up with Christian and cute Ang, as well as a good portion of Dad's side for the Angels game Saturday night! What's better than family, baseball players, and $20 nachos? 

Nothing I tell ya. 

Life Changes--Really fast.

Remember how last time I blogged--I blogged about going to China? Remember how shortly after that I decided not to go? Remember how shortly after that I decided to move up to Salt lake? Remembbber how just two days after coming home from Salt Lake apartment searching, I was offered a scholarship to Dixie State? Oh yeah, me too.

MY MIND IS A TERRIBLE PLACE TO BE RIGHT NOW. 

Now, this post is not going to tell you all the ins-and outs of my decisions to not go to China, to move up to Salt Lake, and now to possibly stay here. Because the truth is that I couldn't even tell you. One thing feels wrong, and the other feels right. Then once you think you've got it all figured out. Life changes again--and really fast. And you are forced to make a decision, and sometimes it's really hard. And sometimes you just want the heavens to open up and somebody to step out from the clouds and tell you exactly what you are supposed to be doing. But after realizing that that, is most definitely not going to happen. You end up on your knees, or asking your dad for a blessing. And then you just kind of realize; whatever you choose, you have to choose for yourself. Nobody else, and that whatever you choose, if you are honestly seeking to make the right choice--will be the right one for you.

It's taken a lot of time, and I am definitely still not there yet. But I think I'm slowly learning for myself that Heavenly Father has a much bigger plan in store for our lives than we do. It's so hard though ya know? Aligning our plans with his. Sometimes it feels like a bit of a tug-of-war but then I realize life would be a little bit easier if I just loosen the grip and let him direct me. And why not choose easy, ya know? 

Just Can't Get Enough...

Don't worry your little hearts, I will eventually catch up on my Thailand posts, because we all know that a lot happened in that month that my Gmail account was hacked, but for now. I have some news to document. 

Basically from the first week in Thailand, I realized that I love new places, new culture, new people, and adorable children. I immediately thought "Hey, maybe I will try and be a head teacher after this!" Well, my life in Thailand moved on, and I didn't give it a whole lot of thought due to some things at home that in my mind, would for sure keep me from going. Best friend getting engaged possibly, Cam coming home from his mission, school waiting to be finished, family that I missed. Babies being born. Yeah, there was no way I could leave for another five months, right? 

Wrong!! End of February came around, and I realized I had only a couple more months in Thailand, and was not ready for this adventure to end. So, I did what any normal person would do... and applied for Head Teacher as fast as I possibly could type. One thing lead to another, one interview completed...two interviews completed.... ACCEPTED! Shortly after, Shayla applied for Head Teacher as well, and Marci too! Marci will be heading to St. Petersburg Russia come August 2012! And Shayla and I.... well, we will be heading to .... 

ZhongShan China!! 

I'm excited and nervous and anxious and kiiiind of all over the place. It breaks my heart that I will be missing Cams homecoming and all of that excitement, and welcoming the new babies into the family. It makes me nervous thinking about best friends getting engaged or married while I am away, and all of the little things life back home brings. But, China is an opportunity I just cannot pass up. After months of thoughtful prayer and contemplation. I know that China, is exactly what I need this fall. And though at times I am a little nervous, and scared of all of the responsibility. I cannot wait!!! 

I'm Backkk....

Firstly. 

Katelyn, I hope you know the title I really wanted to put.
But for real, it's probably mildly inappropriate, so I refrained. 

So it's true! I'm back.
Back on blogger.... after I was hacked with a month left in Thailand. 

Back in America...after a horribly depressing goodbye with my second favorite country. 

Backkk to liiiiife....backkk to realiiiity... 

Anybody? Anybody? Well, if you didn't get that reference it's a darn shame I tell ya. 

I'm back.
And it feels so good. 

With just a tiiiiiny bit of sadness mixed in.