satan's tryna git me!

a few days ago i took a lovely stroll to the mailbox, minding my own business, when this monstrosity popped outta nowhere!





notice that the day i am to report is a week after i am to report to the mtc. so that's it. i'm postponing my mission for jury duty. i always knew jury duty was of the devil. haha just kiddin. i talked to an oh-so-friendly woman on the phone who told me to write a letter. hopefully she knew what she was talkin about.

also, today i got free pancakes at ihop. :D there are very few things i love more than free things. and i learned today that ihop actually stands for the international house of pancakes. i'm cool :)

bored and underscored

soooo . . . guess what?? three and a half weeks, less than a month, or 25 days! pick whichever sounds shortest, that's what i do :) it may sound like a very short amount of time, but this past month or two have seemed like an eternity. if the days insist on slowly creeping by like they have been, then, according to my calculations, the next few weeks for me are going to be equivalent to about 5 months in normal (non-pre-missionary) time. i am sure anyone who has served a mission will understand what i mean. the wait is rough!

to fill my time, i have resorted, but not limited myself to the following: building forts with my siblings, watching boring netflix movies, reading seven books, attending the temple 3 or 4 times in a week sometimes, spending waaay too much time on facebook, making medicine bags for scout day camp, sleeping ten hours a night, going to bunco night with mom, practicing piano to the point of annoying my whole family, buying a bajillion things on my missionary list, going around with the sister missionaries in our stake whenever i can, and dying my hair darker out of desperation! see?


some of the things in the above list have some value to them, but sadly, a lot of them don't. needless to say i will be welcoming the transition into missionary life! although i am a little worried about some things. i mean, it's taking a lot of faith to believe that 6:30 a.m. even exists anymore. i haven't seen it in so long. i'm sure the hour will seem all too real soon enough.

i am trying my best to enjoy this time i have, but i am constantly looking towards that blessed day: march 23! it's definitely gunna be a birthday to remember!

¡voy a ser una misionera!

longest. 24. days. of my life. after many let downs and approximately 47 trips to the mailbox, i finally bagged the golden goose on january 7, 2011. behold:

isnt' it one of the most beautiful things you have ever seen? what was inside was even more beautiful. the waiting was sooo worth it because i am going to the best mission ever!

the argeninga rosario mission! yay yay yay! and i report to the provo mtc on march 23 which is my 21st birfday! definitely the best b-day present i could have asked for. everything was absolutely perfect and i knew right when i opened it that it was a call from the lord. i haven't smiled that much in a long time. the past 3 nights i have actually been losing sleep because my brain won't stop thinking about everything! it's getting a little out of hand. it takes me over an hour to fall asleep. i really need that to wear off soon.

here are some pictures of the city:

anywho, if you can't tell, i am elated :) i have lots to do to prepare with the passport and visa and everything, but in just a few short months i will be hermana kastigar! aaah!

i hope they call me on a (real) mission

i'm finally done with finals and back to my favorite place on the planet: az baby! i feel like i drove back in time a couple months because the weather is sickeningly wonderful! i really enjoy the chance i have to spend time with my family, but i am really going to miss all my great friends in utah. it hasn't quite sunken in yet that i am not going back after christmas. it's going to be a sad day when it finally does.


but on a lighter note, my mission papers are officially in! they went in last tuesday, so my call should be coming in a couple weeks at the most . . . maybe before christmas if i am a really good girl. we'll see! lots of people have been guessing where i'll get called and everyone asks me where i want to go. every time someone asks me that i go through an internal struggle because i actually do have an opinion and i know i shouldn't! and i am afraid of what must be happening to my chances every time i tell someone my real opinion. i'm sure i have cursed myself plenty already, so i guess there's no harm in posting it. alright i'll just come out and say it . . . i don't want to go to a visitors' center. for the most part when people ask i tell them that and then just smile and we move on. i behave myself pretty well. but sometimes when people try to convince me that i'm wrong for not wanting to go there, i get pretty animated in explaining why i'd rather take ice cold showers than get facials on p days. one time it got pretty bad. i internally cringed after i declared to someone, "a visitors' center mission is not a real mission!" i'm really not trying to tempt god i promise. i repented of that one don't worry. i definitely see the need for sisters there, and i'm overjoyed that there are girls out there that want to go there, but i just don't feel like it's for me. which, yes, i realize is completely bad.

so, where do i think i am going? . . . salt lake city utah temple square. bring it on.

get a tude

k so it's officially thanksgiving season and it's time to evaluate our attitudes. we have so much to be grateful for. seriously. god is so good. i'm going to start a daily gratitude journal in the spirit of the season and just to be happier too :) i recently discovered this blog about an inspirational woman who lives in provo. if you need help finding some gratitude glasses, check her out.

lookie how pretty!

lately it's been so refreshing to stop and look around at the beautiful fall colors! i have found myself taking the long way home after school to have more time outside. ahhh :) right now, i love where i live. ask me at this time next month, and the answer might be slightly different. hehe.


the boy who lived is making is way back into my life again. my friend and i are preparing for the ninth hp movie by reading all the books by November 19 (this trailer gives me goosebumps every time!!!!). i started reading the sorcerer's stone five days ago. is this a wildly unattainable goal? absolutely. but i'm gunna shoot for the moon.

p.s. this is a bit late, but here was our apartment's halloween experience. most of us had never been anything dead before but we turned out pretty dang frightening i'd say.

things i'm grateful for today: preach my gospel, red starbursts, uncontrollable laughter, daylight savings, bananas.

Neglect

okay wow i don't know what happened but i just totally stopped blogging altogether. it's seriously been a year and a half since my last blog. how lame. i am going to fix that!

well, i am a junior at byu now and i am living with awesome girls, some of my very bestest friends. we live at a nice little place called heather cove which is five minutes to campus on foot (my roommates might tell you otherwise but that's just because i book it to school every morning. yeah. i value my sleep a lot) i love the fall weather for the most part, besides that weird snow we got this week. i am going home for turkey day which i'm super excited about. Also, today i applied to the business school and i will hear back from them next month.

in other recent news, i am working on my mission papers right now and i can turn them in on december 13, which i am going to do! that is definitely the most exciting thing on my horizon right now. i'll get my call either right before or right after christmas and i will hopefully leave in march or april of next year. yay! it's something i have been saying my whole life i want to do. and, my whole life, i have heard lots of doubters. but, it's happening! hah! :)

well, i have to go take an examen de español, so i will have to write more later!

school's out for summer

hello arizona! i'm home :) it's so nice to be back here where the sun is always shining and family is close by. i had some trouble on the way home though! i was driving by myself from utah to arizona in my new car i named julio (he was a wonderful little car), and i was on highway 20 going east connecting from the i-15 to highway 89. i veered off a little onto the soft shoulder of the road, overcorrected, and lost control. my car slid off the road and rolled twice! julio died, may he rest in peace. he lived a good life and was faithful to the end. luckily, i was okay. it was a miracle that i came out with nothing more than a few scratches and a cervical strain (basically i tore a muscle in my neck).

as you can see from the pictures, i was being watched over. the passenger side is not a pretty sight, but the drivers side was protected. i know my heavenly father answered my prayer offered earlier that morning by blessing me with safety. i'm so grateful to have my health even though i lost my dear vehicle. other things in my life have worked out so wonderfully as well that have made this transition easy. i have many amazing people who have helped me so much in my time of need. thank you everyone Ü

i'm now working on finding a job and saving up money to be able to buy another car and save up for college when i'm able to return to byu!