dripping with passion

I had a truly great time last week in Phx with six of my nine siblings, ten of my sixteen nieces and nephews, and one brother's girlfriend. We had a lot of fun and happiness. But the best part of Thanksgiving break might have been just being in my hometown for the 1.5 days I was there. I love Salt Lake more every time I go home. There's something about that place, about being home that warms my heart like nothing else can. In addition to family time and Thanksgiving at the new house in Summit Park, I got to see some of my dearest friends in the world in my 40 hours on the Wasatch Front. Three Sister Missionaries from the Jerusalem Center Winter 2007: Jane's going to Toronto, Jill to Dallas, and Charity to London! The first thing I did when I got home was go see Janey right after she opened her call! I am SO EXCITED to be on the mission with these girls!!! In the hood with Cath and Mal! Seeing Abs and the ring. When I'm with Abby I feel so much love that I can nearly fo...

The day before I left for Thanksgiving the heavens graced Wellesley with its first snow. I was giddy with delight to see white fluffies swirling in the air on my way home from P.E. The whole day I was giddy with snow happiness. It didn't stick much but it sure was magical. I ran downstairs after it started really coming down and twirled in the courtyard and wrote in my journal by the lake. I walked around campus and then I sat in my window seat and read as the snow flitted down into the courtyard behind Tower Court -- enchanting. I am dying to see more snow. There better be a huge storm before I leave Wellesley for good. I love this place in white. This is a perfect time in my life to enjoy snow. So it should snow already! But look at the disheartening forecast: -- Good thing the weatherman is always wrong! Forecast for Wellesley, MA 10-Day Forecast ...

This picture doesn't do the view from the Campus Center any justice. I can't believe how beautiful Wellesley is right now to me - I don't know if it's the descending autumn light or the increasingly nostalgic light in my eyes that I have for this place. I am starting to freak out about graduation: four weeks from now I will be a college grad. EEEEEK! I am just getting ready to go home for Thanksgiving and I am super excited. A few fun things have happened lately around here at Swellesley, including a sleepover with Hazel, the "holiday gala" at the church (pictures below), as well as a Wellesley LDSSA dinner at the Thompson's (awesome bishopric couple) and a banana boat reunion for all the girls that lived in Stone-Davis our first year at Wellesley (pictures to come). I also had the opportunity to go on splits with the sister missionaries here in Boston! Life is good! I am enjoying being here and all the wonderful beautiful parts of my life... for my whole ...

My new favorite word, and something I really want to have more of: gump·tion / ˈgʌmp ʃən / Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation [ guhmp -sh uh n ] –noun 1. initiative; aggressiveness; resourcefulness 2. courage; spunk; guts

I have officially been sucked into the blogging world. Oh dear! I cannot believe the connections I have made following links from people's blogs. The world wide web really is wide. And there are some beautiful design blogs out there. Sheesh I need to stop browsing so much but it's addicting! There's like this whole blog culture, it's weird! So I have become familiar with the practice of "tagging" on blogs (in my wild adventures of jumping from link to link to link until I find out the kid I had a crush on in Elementary School is now married, etc). I was wondering when I was going to get tagged. Lizzie H. finally got me and I feel like I am being initiated into the interconnected blogging world beyond updates to the family. I have debated whether or not I should reply to Lizzie's "YOU'RE IT!" I mean, I secretly kind of want to, but I also don't want to label myself as a true "blogger" (remember when that word was super derogato...

A few pics from my five days in Arizona with the Pothier kids while Shawni and Dave were in Mexico. We had lots of parties and adventures together. I think we might have had more fun than the kids' parents had in Cozumel, but by the end of the day I was so exhausted that I could NOT stay awake to do homework. What a job! Shawni isn't kidding when she says the whole neighborhood comes over on Saturdays! I love the girls' faces in this picture. I look freaked out because I am trying to get everyone to school on time, with their music books and tennis raquets and pictures retake forms ready. It was 8:05 but I insisted we take a self-timer picture before they ran to the bus. These are such good kids that I love so stinking much! Thanks for everything Shawni and Dave, especially the chance to spend time with the kids and some good practice for motherhood.

Sunset on the Sea of Galilee. The last couple of nights I have had a really hard time falling asleep. There are so many things racing through my head as I approach my last five weeks in Boston, at Wellesley, in college, and before the mission. Tonight I sobbed in my bed thinking about leaving this place and reminiscing on all the wonderful experiences that I have had in my life that have led me to this place. And tonight I feel like just a passionate girl on the brink of a new life, marveling at its past sparkle and the evident, glorious hand of the Lord in blessing me. So I choose randomly some pictures from my hard drive to remind me of how blessed, happy and beautiful my life has been, to help me clear my mind so I can fall asleep. The best part is that there are so many more good things to come in life and I have so much wonder to look forward to, especially in the next few months! These ended up in a really random order, but they all make me so happy! Wellesley girls at the Waltz ...