We are Family!

Look, I said I would make another post and I'm doing it! Look at that follow through......so. Where was I? Ah yes. ROAD TRIP!

This is the second road trip I've done with my little nieces and nephews. Two years ago I drove to Utah with Greg and Lisa and their 3 little kids. So only a 13 hour drive with 2 kids was nothing to the 24 hour drive with 3 ;) We split the drive up over 2 days so that helped too!

The first day was just a lot of driving, but the girls were both so good! I got to sit next to my Paisl-kins! :) She was SO tired at the end of the day she was being such a cheeser!!! I loved it!!
The second day of driving we stopped in my place of birth, my old Kentucky home, Louisville Kentucky. We went to Churchill Downs- where they have the Kentucky Derby!

It was a good time, of course! Let me tell you, I got some real photographic gems! But I won't put them on here to protect certain individuals potential embarrassment. Just use your imagination :)



Good fun was had by all. Except Clara. Who felt barfy. And Emily. But Emily got a new hat and Clara got a horse, so e'rybody left happy!

So fast forward a few more hours of driving, arriving home, seeing the last harry potter movie!!! ( i might need to talk more about that.....) a great church meeting, yadda yadda.....we took family pictures! Hooray! Every couple of months whether we need it or not I guess.....I gotta say, I've got a pretty cute family. They're worth documenting regularly :)

Here's proof that we are a family- we have pictures! :

The married familial units
My cute parents and the ones who started it all :)

Andrew and Elizabeth

All the single ladies, say wha??

Michael was MIA (Missionary In Action you might say...)
here is his honorary blank spot where a picture would be.....















classic grandkid shot

Paisley, Caroline, Clara, Rock, Julia, and William
I have THE cutest nieces and nephews. It's just a fact.

My beautiful sisters


And the grand finale- the group picture (s)




Man alive, I love my family! I'm so glad I get to be with them forever!!!
I'm looking forward to more (and bigger) family pictures!
Bring on the babies!!!! (and the spouses, we still have a few left) :)

I should blog....

Last post from mother's day eh? Negligent blogger much? Yes. I own up completely. I don't know why I keep coming back.....recording for posterity? That sounds like a justifiable reason. Though I don't know how keen they'll be on checking out my old, and probably out dated technological life documentation. Oh well. I'll make 'em like it. And in the mean time, I'll document it more. Maybe even on my blog :)

So since May, I took finals and left the Spanish House, which was very sad- I LOVED living there!! I want to go back if at all possible. I have fallen in love with Spanish! I wish I could still speak it everyday! I need to go back to South America....or even Southern America.....or just the Spanish branch. I need some espanol en mi vida!!! So anyways, loved the Spanish, the people we're first class and I was tempted to stay for summer. But not enough to actually want to take classes.

La Casa Espanola Ladies and Gentlemen.

So I flew myself on home to the beautiful St. Louis. I love coming home!! Even though you can't go back to a time, I love seeing the places I grew up and seeing old friends and my fabulous family! Such a wonderful life I lead!

So after being home for a week or two and celebrating my Asian birthday (22! woot!) I was emergency flighted (not literally...) to Baltimore to visit my sister Kristen. We took a road trip to Gaffney, South Carolina. It was a great 8 hour drive with lots of singing, sleeping, talking, sister bonding, and general over all k sis awesomeness. ( kristen and I are the k-sisters (: ) We found Gaffney to be charming and quaint and everything you would expect of a town in South Carolina that the world forgot to bring with it when it started growing. Kristen got the job, but she couldn't handle the small town scene this town was offering, and I don't blame her. Though the peach water tower was awfully tempting! Who wouldn't want to claim this as part of their home town??
A mighty fine looking peach water tower, little nubby and all!
who knew SC produces more peaches than Georgia!

Peachy peaches!

So after our road trip south, we headed up to Hershey to visit Emily and Mike! (and Clara and Paisley of course!) We celebrated the 4th of July Hershey style and had a fun picnic with some friends and went to a concert outside the hospital and watched fireworks outside and on TV. I am so grateful for this wonderful country we live in!

Kristen hung out for a few days, but she had to go back down to Balitmore to work. Those workin women...;) So I stuck around and hung out with the Dears for the next 2 weeks. We did all sorts of awesomeness. When you live in Hershey, and you hang out with the Deardeuffs, the fun is endless! :)
We went to Hershey Pantry, Hershey gardens, Hershey Park, Hershey Library, Hershey post office, Hershey hospital (putting Hershey in front of it automatically makes it more fun.) We also went to Missy's Ugly Cookies , we went for walks, I got my hair cut, watched How the States got their shape (my new favorite TV show) and lots more fun!

I loved playing with the girls every day!! They are so cute and now they like me better! (Granted that wasn't hard since they very rarely see me so they don't warm up very quickly) But Clara is so sweet and Paisley is turning into such a fun little munchkin!

SO after 2+ weeks on the East coast we drove home again home again. jiggety jog. :) That might need to be another post. This is getting a little lengthy. Hate to bore my readers. That may or may not read it. What can I say, I'm a crowd pleaser. :)

Peace out readies.

Mothers Who Know

I am so grateful that there is a day set aside in the year to recognize the efforts and labors of mothers all around the world. Though they deserve more, it is the least we cando to step back and look at all they truly do. A speaker at church today quoted a poet named William Ross Wallace saying "the hand that rocks the cradle rocks the world". I truly believe that. In all of my education classes, we talk about how important it is for parents to docertain things before they even enter the classroom, and then continue helping outsidethe classroom. There is such an opportunity to do good in the world through the lives of children, and God has given women the sacred privilege and responsibility to do so. Another quote from church "the most important of the Lord's work you will ever do will be within the walls of your own home". I cannot wait for the time when I will be able to have my own children to teach the gospel to!! Since I was a little girl, the thing I wanted more than anything was to be a Mom. Within my soul, I recognize my inherent role as a woman and I cannot wait to fulfill it!!! I think a major reason for this is because of the wonderful mother role models I've had in my life.

My own mother has taught me nearly everything I know and continues to push me to become better and affirms her unconditional love everyday. I have learned the true power and blessings of truly loving other people from her. She taught me to love the gospel. She taught me to have balance in life. She taught me that its ok to be sad sometimes. She taught me to love my siblings. She taught me to love words. She taught me to love to read and to learn. She taught me to love what's on the inside more than the outside. She taught me to serve. She taught me to find a worthy eternal companion. She is my hero, and I will always treasure our relationship! She is one of my best friends.

My Grandma Erekson is also another example of a faithful mother who Ihave learned from over the years. From her I learned the importance of working together as a family. She taught my father that in his childhood, and she taught me that in mine as well. I am grateful for her faithful life and example.

Though I have never met my mom's mom, I carry her name and feel a loving connection to her. I have heard stories of her faith and determination in living God's gospel, and seen her teachings in my Mom. I can't wait for the day when I get to meet this beloved Grandmother and thank her for her life!

My sisters (and sister in law) are also fabulous examples to me as they begin their families, and I can see them starting traditions in faith so they can raise up their little ones to live in the light of the gospel. I admire their strength and positivity!

Countless leaders in the church, all of my 10+ young women presidents, and others have also shown me what it means to be a great mother. Being in their homes and watching them in little moments, selflessly serving and loving has made a huge impact in my life. Jane Thomas and Briana Larson specifically have been second mothers to me in many ways and I am so grateful for their examples.

I love Sister Beck's talk entitled "Mothers Who Know", but even more I am grateful for the women is my life who know. Like the story in Alma 46, where 2000 young men lived because they believed, and they believed because they were taught. In verse 56 it says "We do not doubt our mothers knew it". Nor do I doubt. I believe in this gospel with all my heart, and I'm grateful I've been taught that from such exemplary women. So I say to you all:

Thank you.

What do you think?

I've been thinking about a song from my childhood the past couple of weeks. It's from my beloved Scripture Scouts, which if you're not familiar with, you should be. As soon as possible.
Anyway, one particular song (that my mom likes to quote) has been running through my head:

"What do you think, when there's nothing to think about?"

I've just been doing a lot of self reflection lately, and I keep coming back to this idea. The things we think about may seem so insignificant and trivial, but really they're everything. What I think about when I have nothing else pressing on my mind really determines who I am. If I have a few minutes, what do I find running through my mind? And even when I have things to think about, how do I prioritize them or contextualize them? I think the natural man has an inclination for selfish thinking; what do I want to do? how do I look? Why aren't I as ____(insert adjective)___as ___(insert other person)___? If you don't make any conscious effort, it just happens naturally! I don't know if it's just because I'm a girl or what, but my natural tendency is to compare myself to other people, especially to other girls, even though we're told over and over again not to do it. And it makes sense! I heard recently comparing yourself to other people is a losing game because you are comparing your insides to another person's outsides. You're being unfair to yourself and setting yourself up for pain and unhappiness. Yet girls everywhere continue to do it. I continue to do it. Even though I know what it does to me!
I feel like I have been taught so many things my whole life, but this particular time in my life, even though its sometimes hard and frustrating, I'm really learning what application of those lessons look and feel like. I feel like I have lots of the hypothetical answers. I know what I should be doing. But very often, I don't. But WHY?

So, back to my thought, even though I've heard the saying for years, I feel like I'm finally beginning to understand it. Understand it in a way that has made me want to implement it.

If I can change the way I think, I can change the way I act and change what I become.

To you they may be words. But to me, they speak to not only the root of my problems as well as the solution. Just as simple of a thing as a thought can create such a change.

I want to be good. I want to be a disciple of Christ. I want to share this glorious gospel with all the amazing people I have been blessed to meet in my life. I want to appreciate everyday of this mortal field trip, because it is going by fast. I want to emulate the light of Christ.

I want these things so much. And I can have them. And it all starts with a thought.

I think :)

Happy Blog birth!!

"Have you ever birthed a blog?? I have!" Thank you Chelsea.

I was just writing in my journal, and I decided to play my favorite game. "What was I doing one year ago today?" So I looked back and that night we all wrote in our journals. So tonight Chelsea broke out her journal to look at what she wrote that night. Her journal has "there and back again" written on the front. THEN I realized that's where my blog inspiration came from! And I realized a year ago today I created this little beauty! And what a year its been! I've sure had some fun times documented. I can't say as I'm hooked on blogging yet, but who knows what another year will do! What adventures lie in store to be documented on these cyber space pages? Who knows?? I'm excited!!

I struggle

I don't know why I can't blog on a regular basis. I think it's because I get started on long tangents and think of it as a big investment of time. So I'm going to try and do short ones, mostly to just prove to myself that it can be done.

So here is my short thought:
I love my math class. A lot. Mostly because of the girls at my table. Shout out to Heidi, Mariah, Lisa, Sarah and Jaymie!They keep me so thoroughly entertained that I forget to hate math! We make up the best math problems and come up with amazing math jokes. I look forward to those two hour class periods more than I should :) And my uncle teaches it, and does a FANTASTIC job! And I got a 93 on my first test and one of the questions was about my mom. That's enough to make you love any class!

(This picture I drew for my art class, which I do not love, but I am quite fond of this drawing. Mostly because it took me like four hours to draw!)

And now I'm done. short and sweet.

"What's to become of me?"

Life's a funny thing. Well, ironically it's not usually funny when we use that phrase. Another funny thing. But unrelated to what I came here to blog about.....

So I feel like I keep going through these huge ordeals to make big decisions and then I decide and think I should be good for at least a couple of months. And then another big decision seems to pop up that needs dealing with. "I just cleaned up this mess! Can't it just stay clean for like, five minutes??" - Incredibles

My current life dilemma is what to do this summer. The good thing is I have a few things I know I don't want to do. Or can't do. So that knocks a few apples out of my choice basket.

I pretty much know I'm going to stay out in Provo and take classes at least Spring, probably summer.

But I just have that itch for change, which makes no sense because I LOVE my apartment, I LOVE my roommates, and I love my ward! So why would I want to change any of that you ask? Ok, maybe you didn't ask, but Chelsea has asked me multiple times. I DON'T KNOW!! I just have this feeling of inexplicable discontent. I need something to change; something to look forward to; some change in environment; some struggle for survival!! And plus what's the fun of staying with what you're comfortable with? I've gotta live up the spontaneity of college life while I can!


(First Roommate photo at our stake opening social- Sarah, me, Alice, and Chelsea)

So you're probably reading this saying, cool. Sounds like you've made up your mind. Just go move already. Therein lies my problem. I don't know WHERE to go!!! I kind of would like to try the foreign language housing, but its kind of pricey for the spring/summer. So if I don't go there, I pretty much have NO requirements! seriously. And Provo has no end of places to live! So I just get overwhelmed by all the options and decide to think about it later. Then when I get back to thinking about it, I start at the same logical starting race post and make it to about the same marker in my metaphorical racing logic analogy. which happens to be nowhere! :) In the past I've always felt really strongly about one place we've found and we just go and do. I haven't got that yet, so maybe I haven't found the right option. Blech....I'm too busy doing school to worry about where to live.

So I'm hoping by blogging my thoughts I'd make it to a new racing marker.

I think it might have helped.

I'm thinking the language housing is a good option. It'll force me to keep my Spanish up (and I've learned there's no better way to learn than by speaking immersion!) Then I'll get to see a new side of campus, meet new people, get home made dinners every night (required by the housing), I'll be closer to the temple. I like the sound of this!

Dang it. I just got myself sold on the idea, and found out you have to have completed Span 102. maybe I can get it waived.

Ok. Goal for tomorrow.


Anyway. Now for where you, my readers, come in.

HELP ME!!! Suggestions, advise, contract info, anything!!

kthanks. :D