D.E.H.

Okay! So it's been a while. My apologies. I guess I just find it easier and easier to live without such a short connection to my home now. I've been away so long, my life is here right now. It's really crazy. But don't worry, I think about my true home at least seven times a day. I miss it so! But in the meantime, I have been having some fun. Since Italy a lot has happened. We shall start with the weekend right after Italy.

Friday:

I worked and then later that night, Me, Ellie and Hayley (that's what D.E.H. stands for by the way, Danielle, Ellie, Hayley) headed to the chapel for an institute dance. This is the equivalent of a stake dance back home just with a bit dirtier music. :) I was so excited because I hadn't gotten my groove on in forever and you guys know how I have an innate need to move my body. :) Anyway, we get there and I start dancing. I go crazy right? But it's pretty normal for me but for these English blokes it's a bit out of control. They just stop dancing completely and watch me and laugh. They thought I was a hoot. It was really fun and I had a fabulous time getting drenched in sweat. Here's a picture:

We wore fabulous glasses. Naturally. You may notice that my specs are not like the others and that is because I left my bag which had my glasses and a newly purchased top in it on the bus! Never to be seen again! Rough.

Saturday:

I work and then come home early to prep for a youth water activity. It was so much fun! We went kayaking on this mini lake they have. It was loads of fun and we all fell in in the end. Into this nasty stagnant water. Great! After that D, E, H and others gathered for a friendly viewing of the U.S. vs. England football match! This was so much fun as well because, being American, I was the only one cheering for the U.S. and got plenty of mouth for doing so. Anytime I said anything it was immediately followed by "Shut up!" from a man named Peter. It was great! And it was even better when we scored and ended up drawing with England! HAH! It was perfect really. :)

This last week has been nice as well. I am starting to really miss home but I know I'm going to miss here once I leave. Especially since me, Ellie and Hayley have become such good friends. I love them both. We play everyday and do random things. For example, on Wednesday we went to Harborne to some charity shops and it was fantastic. Charity shops are the equivalent of mini D.I.s! Naturally i adore and had so much fun! Afterwards we got fake eyelashes and nasty nails and applied those while watching films. I also got my package that day that I had been looking forward to so very much. All those who contributed, thank you so so so so so so so much! I absolutely LOVED it! It was like someone sent me a little piece of home to help me with this last stretch here.

Me and Hayley are getting along really well and I can tell that she misses a sister. She's gets lonely because she is the only child at home and even her parents work all day sometimes so she's completely alone at home. I think me being here makes her happy. And it definitely makes me happy having a "sister" away from home. I have included some pictures of our most recent adventures for you all to see. :)

Ellie and nails.

Hayley and nails.

Me jumping on and waking Hayley and Ellie after their sleepover. They looked awesome!

Me and my beloved package!

Fake eyelashes do wonders for your eye size. :) oh how i miss mine.

Nasty nails!

Since then I have just been hanging out with Hayley, watching films, eating crap and working occasionally. If you haven't noticed, I work a lot less now because everyone's hours have been cut. I think the hotel is just not as busy as they thought. Which gives me lots more time to travel and explore but at the same time it takes away all the funds that I would make such trips with. Slight dilemma.

This weekend I watched another England game, horrible, and attended a ward EFY fundraiser. It was lots of fun! We painted our faces, had burgers and I bought these fabulous suitcases from the auction! Here are the beauties:

So naturally, old luggage must be photographed complete with old clothes, setting and color. :) But these suitcases are seventy years old! Brought over from Scotland by a lady in the ward when she was twenty! She also said that during the war she sat on the dark one for twenty six hours on a train because there were no seats! They have story! I love them!

Me and Ethan sporting our rivaling country's colors.

These are Moams. They are officially my favorite sweet here. They're pretty much exactly like Mambas but they come in all different forms and flavors. Mwah!

Other than that, my life is just full of decisions and my mind is crammed with so many thoughts that I can't seem to write them all down. It's just crazy how we live lives where on one hand we have the world and all worldly things and then we have spiritual and eternal perspectives. sometimes they conflict and it causes my head to spin. I'm so glad to have a spiritual life because otherwise I would be stuck completely in the world which, from what I've seen, could be terrible. Let's just say I THINK a lot in my spare time. Well, that's my life right now. It's good as always! I love you all and miss miss miss you!

Love, The next great thinker