Families Are Forever!

  Cohen, my friend's son ^

 Ashlynne, my friend's daughter ^

 Me, when I was younger ^

 The triplets in their new high chairs ^

 The triplets in their stroller ^

Cailyn, Aubrey, Brooke, Aphia, and Nate ^

I don't get how you can have kiddos like these and not want to spend eternity with them. What blessings these children are. I love them so much! <3

Utards serving the greater Portland area!

Left to right- "Sister" Jamie Bennett, Me, Bri, "Sister" Becca Riddle.

It was just over two years ago that these two "Sisters" came into my life! Wow, time flies, right?! Because of them(and a few other people) I have changed forever. These ladies are the first two missionaries that taught me. We had but a short time together compared to the others that taught me but that doesn't mean we didn't bond quickly. We laughed, cried, and shared the gospel together. It doesn't get much better than that folks. Both Riddle and Bennett came to visit the same weekend, per chance. We had a reunion and it was grand.

"Sister" Christal Dent, Me, Ellen, "Sister" Camille Sparks.

These are the other two sisters that taught me! I was really blessed with some amazing people who taught me! We probably had too much fun. Missionaries aren't allowed to have fun. ;) Kidding! I was also lucky enough that all four sisters are from Utah! I can kill FOUR birds with ONE flight! Lol. But seriously, these ladies are all amazing and some of my greatest friend- great friends teach the gospel to you, whether it's though words or actions. I LOVE YOU ALL!

When A Portland Girl Meets The Caribbean...

Humid. Hot. Sweaty. Instantly straight to curly hair. Bright. Burnt. Warm water. Sea weed. Salty. Breath taking beauty. Sweetest people you'll ever meet. Ghetto hotels. Balcony suite. Little sleep. Amazing food. Memories that last a lifetime. Bartering. Crazy drivers. Jungles. Clear water. Palm trees. Sunny. Tan. Dodge Charger. Long flights. Layovers. No work. Power boats. Windy. Tropical rain storms. Shopping. Caves. Humility. Ferries. Tenders. Resorts. Sand fleas. Mayan ruins. Ocean for days. 24/7 free food. Swim suits. Flip flops. Sand. Best friends. Wrong hotel. Comedy shows. Sunscreen. Sunglasses. Home Sweet Home.

All these words describe my most recent adventure. Bri, Jason, Andrew, and I flew down to Miami for a few days to hang out and then went on a cruise to the western Caribbean. Amazing, you ask? ABSOLUTELY! Breath taking are the only two words I can even fathom to use to describe the beauty we saw for a week straight.

This photo is in Tulum, Meixico at the Mayan Ruins. They were amazing and I would totally recommend going there for any vacation. This photo reminds me of something that would be on a post card. Speaking of post cards- when we were at Grand Cayman Island we went to Hell... That's right, there's a town called Hell. Haha...

How funny is this?! The couple that owned this little gift shop were some of the sweetest people we met. Kind of funny how that works, huh? Back to post cards- everyone bought a post card that said, "I've been to Hell and back." they sent it home and it was even post-marked in Hell. Kind of a funny memory. ;)

The people on the ship were amazing! SO sweet to us. On the ship you're assigned a table and two servers that you have every night for dinner. We had Bernard and Ida(eee-duh). Bernard is from Jamaica but is now living in the Bahamas because that's where is "Misses" lives and Ida is from Indonesia. In my biased opinion we had the best two servers on the entire ship! We even gave Ida a Book of Mormon. He was so sweet. Bernard told us that he has never ever had guests like us because we actually joked around with him and treated him like one of us- not "lower" than us. I miss them!

The guy that was in charge of cleaning our room everyday remembered our names! How nuts is that? He has hundreds of rooms to clean in a day and he remembered all four of our names. He was so sweet. Every night they would make an animal out of towels and this night it was a monkey! So cute!

Right here we're waiting for the bus on the Grand Cayman Island. Buses there are like mini vans. It was kind of funny. From here we went to a local restaurant called Liberty's and ate BBQ chicken, Pork, and Ox tail- along with other "fixin's". Yummy!

Here are some more photo's...

 Still in Miami at Bubba Gumps for dinner^

 Comemul, Mexico in our Blazer gear^

 First night in Miami at iHOP being tourists^

 The boys jumping for joy- our first time at South Beach^

 In Miami, about to go on the powerboat tour- my fav!^

 Our rental car in Miami- Dodge Charger-right after church^

 At some random beach- Jason's a monkey^

 Hernandez- our pet in the first hotel- so cute!^

 First night on the ship^

 Carnival Valor was our ship^

 It's an elephant^

 Amazing Half Moon Bay Resort^

 Tulum Mayan Ruins- in Mexico^

Jason is a pillow thief (7 pillows)^

If you want to check out more photo's- I posted all of mine on my Facebook. They're amazing and will make you want to go on a cruise so there's my disclaimer! Do it! :)

Actions Will ALWAYS Speak Louder Than Words

I've made a new goal to bare testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ more often, even if it's not to someone through words or a note but ALWAYS through my actions. I'm a firm believer that actions speak louder than words- I've always lived by these few words. Today, I was thinking about it if it were applied to the gospel. I have a friend that's moving to Hawaii in two days and she wrote me a really nice letter recently and a line of it said, "You are a good example to me and I have been strengthened by your testimony." I do not know that I've ever verbally born testimony to her or even in front of her, in a formal sense, but knowing that something as simple as my daily actions can impact someone and give them even the impression of what my testimony may taste like satisfies me in every sense. I'm not one that's good with words and if I'm not 120% sure of everything I'm saying makes sense- I won't say it, but I do know that actions speak louder than words. I know that through being a good example you can impact other people's lives for the better. Our perfect example is Jesus Christ Himself, He has shown all of us the way. If we all strive to be like Him we will be blessed in every sense. I know these things to be true. While we are good examples to others they'll see the light of Christ in us and will have the desire to make the same or similar decisions we're making. In turn, we're helping them build a testimony of the most important thing on earth- the restored gospel of Jesus Christ! Go out and do! Be the person you want to become. The church is true people. 

Aloha E1! See you in November. :)

Left to right- Miriam, Briana, Me, Erika, Emily, Emma, and Vicky

Ed-u-ma-cation!

So, after a few years away from school I decided/was inspired to go back to school.  I knew it was something that was needed and it was ultimately something I knew I really wanted for myself. I recently was talking to a guy friend of mine and I remember him saying that he would prefer for his future wife to have a degree, even if she doesn't use it due to staying at home with "said children". I agree. It's a sort of self accomplishment that I want- basically I want a really expensive piece of paper! :) I decided to apply to all three BYU's just so I would never have to wonder "What if I would have gotten into this one or that one". As of right now I didn't get in to  BYU Hawaii but I got into BYU Idaho!!! I'm super stoked. I haven't heard from BYU Utah though. I doubt I'll get in though- which I'm not bummed about because my heart is set on Idaho right now. I got assigned Fall/Winter track and I'll be leaving this January. I'm very very excited and I can barely wait! I feel really good about going to Idaho. I think it's meant to be. :D

Here I come BYUi! :) Good memories will be made in The Burg!