Schedule Change and Church Activities

I changed my work schedule for the summer so that I am working the morning shift. However, Kory is still working the evening shift. That means I get home from work at 4 and have to wait for him to get home at 8. I'm only kind of complaining because I'm glad I don't have to be at work until 8 anymore. However, for some reason yesterday I was feeling so bored and lonely after work. Of course there were plenty of things for me to do around the house, but honestly, housework just gets old sometimes even though it needs to be done. I listened to Pandora Radio which entertained me for a while. I talked with mom on the phone for a while and I told her now that I have a sewing machine I want to start using it. Maybe that would give me something fun to do?

Needless to say, I was actually glad that we had enrichment last night. I rode over with my neighbor Lauren, whom I love. Our church has this great pavilion with picnic tables where we met the other fun girls in our ward. It was recipe night so we shared recipes with each other and some girls brought samples for us to try, yum! But mostly it was just fun to sit around and talk in a smaller group, and actually get to know the girl whose face you see every Sunday but never really get to chat with. Plus, it doesn't get dark until way late here now (like 8:30 or 9:00) which I love. It is so nice to be outside in the evenings.

After the activity my visiting teachers came over. They are so sweet, and I actually loved having them over and getting to know each of them a little bit better too. We talked, they gave a lesson, then we talked for another 30 minutes haha.

It was fun having something to do last night. Now that I get off at 4 I need to start planning fun things with friends to fill my early evenings. It's been so long since I have had time for friends because of work and school. I'm excited for the schedule change.

The Weekend Update, Full of Fun

We had a great weekend! Friday night we went and saw "Room Service" a Broadway play from the 1930's. It was pretty funny. We really enjoyed it. We invited a couple from our ward, the Kemps, and they really enjoyed it. That's the best when people are really appreciative that you though of them. I'm sad we don't have pictures. But we had a great time.

Saturday we went to work. Then we came home and made dinner for a couple of other couples in the ward, the Stonemans and the Botterons. We had BBQ pork ribs (Kory's specialty), salad from the Botterons, and pineapple from the Stonemans. The cool thing about the pineapple is that one of my Hawaii Del Sol roomies, Katie Hanks, got us a pineapple cutter as a wedding gift! We got to use it! It was awesome, it cuts the fruit out of the skin and core. I have included some pictures from the pineapple fun. After dinner, which was amazing, we played Ticket to Ride and ate vanilla pudding pie (yum!). I love that dessert because it is the easiest thing every and people are always glad I made it.






It felt like the night was over after dinner and games with friends. But Kory and I still had our own little date after that. We went and saw the "Humor U" stand up comedy show on campus. That was way fun. We really enjoyed it. Tickets for $3 you can't really beat that.

Sunday was a busy day as always. Kory got a new calling in our ward. He will be teaching Elder's Quorum. He will be really good at that.

Family home evening was really fun last night. Family home evening is something that we do every Monday night to help our family come closer together and to also strengthen our testimonies of the gospel (Because "families are the most important social unit in time and in eternity"). Kory and I got a really great book as a wedding gift "Family Home Evening for Newlyweds." We did an activity from the book where it give you a bunch of sentences that you have to finish about each other:

1. You make me laugh when...
2. You amke me love you when...
3. You make me happy when...
4. You make me feel special when...
5. You make me feel closer to Heavenly Father when...

etc. We had a lot of fun completing the 12 sentences. It was a really feel-good activity. Then we read part of a chapter from a John Bytheway book. It was great!

Overview of the Last Two Months!

My goodness, I have had SO much happen in the last two months. It has probably been some of the most exciting two months I have ever had in my entire life. Let me give you an overview of what I have been up to since my last blog. (By the way, I deeply apologize to each of you who have been patiently waiting for it to no longer be "Sunday" ha!).

June
25: Flew to Virginia to be with Kory!
26: I went to the Matt Nathanson concert Oceanside at Virginia Beach while Kory worked.
29: We made Sunday dinner with friends and played games then went to the beach!
30: Kory and I went on a very nice date to PF Changs (one of our favorites).

July
1: I hated saying goodbye to Kory then had to catch my international flight.
2: I arrived to Edinburgh, Scotland.
4: Missed America, and the 4th of July, and Kory... a lot.
5: We did baptisms at the Preston, England temple.
6: Saw Liverpool, England for a few hours.
7: Arrived in London, England.
10: Saw TWO shows for cheap! CHICAGO and Jersey Boys.
11: Day trip to Stone Henge and Bath.
12: Flew to Amsterdam.
13: Held our own testimony meeting then toured Amsterdam.
14: Drove through Belgium, stopped to visit EU Council in Brussels (and eat waffles).
15: First full day in Paris, France.
17: Day trip to Normandy.
19: Toured the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.
20: Attended church at Geneva ward where they spoke french, then met ex-patriots.
21: International Business Presentation by Nestle.
22: Full day in Zermatt, Switzerland where we saw the famous Matterhorn.
23: First full day in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland one of the most beautiful places.
25: Travel to Salzburg, Austria.
26: The Sound of Music tour.
27: Matthousen Concentration Camp.
28: Day trip to the BMW factory in Munich, Germany.
29: Tour of the Neuschwanstein Castle (the one Disney's was based off of).
30: First full day in Milan, Italy saw The Last Supper.
31: Venice! We saw a phenomenal Vivaldi concert.

August
1: Spent the day shopping in Venice.
2: Florence, Italy where we saw Michaelangelo's David.
3: Bore my English testimony to the Italians. Then day tripped to Cortona Tuscany.
4: Rome, Italy!
5: Day trip to Pompeii (the preserved city) and the Italian beach.
6: Saw the sites and enjoyed making our last few memories.
7: Put a package together for my cousin Jonathan serving his mission in Rome.
8: A LONG flight back to the USA then a WONDERFUL REUNION with Kory!
9: I knocked door to door with Kory and watched him make a sale, so fun.
10: Kory and I sang as parts of a quartet in his branch sacrament meeting.
11: Kory finished his last day of work! We celebrated with PF Changs.
12: We got in the car and left Virginia Beach and headed for DC.
12: My first time to Washington DC! Played tourist, visited my good friend Kylee.
13: Drove to Cleveland, OH to see Carissa then Toledo, OH to see Kelli and their fams!
14: After checking to make sure the car was ok, Kory and I started driving again.
15: Kory and I made it back to Provo, UT!
16: Kory and I had lunch at my cousins Jon and Gina Cheney's.
18: We jumped back in the car and drove home to Boise, ID!
19: Kory flew home to Washington to chill with his family.
22: I flew up to Seattle to see Kory again! He picked me up with beautiful flowers!
22: Kory and I had a blast spending the day in Seattle and a the Mariner's game!
23: I met Celeste! Then visited my cousins in Puyallup (Don and Jodie Fowles' family).
24: So much fun enjoying the sabbath with Kory and his family.
25: Kory and I flew back to Boise.
29: HAPPY 6 MONTHS to ANA LEE and KORY! We had a cute picnic by the Boise River.
29: Somehow Kory and I squeeze in ANOTHER road trip this summer...Priest River, ID.
30: Kory, Mom and I do yard work at grandma's house and attend graveside service.
31: Attended church in Priest River then went to Lind, WA for Sunday dinner and drove home. Kory got to meet a lot more of the family! We loved seeing the Fowles.

September
1: Kory leaves for Provo after spending the day with me. School starts tomorrow. I will join him next week. But I am missing him loads already!


So as you can see I have a LOT to write about and a lot of pictures to share too. I don't even know where to begin? At least you have the overview now? haha. It is late so I am going to go to bed. But I hope you enjoy my little calendar of events!

Love you all!

Sunday

I love going to church. I love the feeling that you get when you are there. I love being able to think about our Savior, and the amazing power of the atonement. I love having the opportunity to partake of the sacrament and renew our covenants with our Father in Heaven. I love how when you bow your head, fold your arms, and pray to our Heavenly Father you get this feeling that you are loved and you know that He is listening to every word you say. I love knowing that we are apart of an eternal plan, a "bigger picture." It just makes me happy, and gives me confidence in my life.

This weekend was really great. It had some stressful moments. I'm getting anxious about being gone for 5 weeks. But I think everything will work out well. Study abroad is a LOT of work and even more responsibility. I sure have my hands full, but I'm trying not to let it get to me too much. It is an amazing opportunity and I am thrilled to have it!

Today after church we watched a couple of movies, Remember the Titans and Mona Lisa Smile. I love both of those movies. They both have such powerful moments in them. I love just relaxing and watching a good movie sometimes.