fun in the sun =]

A couple of weekends ago, I went hiking at Badger Creek with my roomies. It was BEAUTIFUL. I’ve never appreciated being outside so much, or nice weather, as much as I have been this semester.

My favorite part was when I was in the car, and a dog jumped in and sat on my lap and wouldn’t get off. That was okay with me =]

Memorial Day weekend was BOMB!!! I got the opportunity to go spend it with my bestie, Samwise in Provo! In one day, we: went to the BYU library (twice), BYU bookstore, explored campus, the Bean Museum, the BYU Art Museum, shopping at 2 different malls, made tie-dye shirts, ate at a malt shop, walked 5 miles in the

rain, watched two movies, and made sammy a blog. Impressive, right? The next day, we went to her ward and went to go visit her family in morgan, utah. We got to play games and eat (a LOT) and relax. I got to spend the next night with Rochelle in slc, and we had an amazing night. I love and miss her, and wish she was closer! It was so so so good to see sammy! I love and miss that girl every day of my life, and I’m so happy that I got to see her beautiful face! =]

Special Olympics was BOMB!!! I LOVED it… I forgot how much I loved working with individuals with special needs. I wrote some things that I learned from that day and related it to what I was reading in D&C (ps- I’m LOVING that book! I’m learning SO much, and I don’t know why I haven’t been reading it diligently my whole life). Here’s what I wrote in my scripture journal, and I meant every word. It was a wonderful experience, and I welcomed the sunburn.

The Team's "Game Face!"

(Excerpt about Special Olympics from my D&C Journal)

"In section 99, it says to be, “as a little child” in order to receive the kingdom. I had a great experience this weekend working special needs participants at the Special Olympics in Blackfoot. I think that this group of individuals parallel a lot of the qualities that little children have, and I learned so much from them the short time I was able to work with them. I’d like to share a few examples of attributes that were exemplified to me this Saturday:

1.) Gratitude- A participant that I had no previous contact with came up to me while I was announcing the next event in the microphone. She said, “I just wanted to tell you that you’re a great announcer. Good job.” I wasn’t doing anything out of the ordinary- no jokes or anything entertaining. I was just announcing the events, and was just doing my job. I think that it would be such a great thing if we just thanked those around us who were overlooked, but were doing their jobs well.

2.) Unconditional love- Another participant whom I had had no previous experience with came up to me, read my nametag and just said, “Jessica, I love you very much.” What a great example of the attitude we should have! Shouldn’t we be able to go up to any stranger and just say, “So and so… I love you very much.” These individuals loved each other very much, and cared for each other. Everything was about teamwork. They were truly heartwarming to watch.

3.) Cheerful- I can’t express how enthusiastic and excited these participants were to just be alive! They were so happy just to run around in the sun, when the only reward was a cheap ribbon. We should all be grateful just for the opportunity to be alive and for good weather and good company! About five or six times a minute, one participant would urge us all to display our “game face,” which was just flashing a peace sign. Every time we did it, his face lit up and it was like the first time all over again. Shouldn’t we all get joy from making others happy and in doing the little things?

As I said, I was only with these people a short time, but they were truly outstanding examples of how I needed to be. "

This past weekend, some of us went to Utah for the weekend. The first night featured a pizza the size of a table and a stroll around Gateway and downtown SLC. Also featured: a crazy man on the train telling us he was Jesus, and leading an army. We spent the night camping in Peter’s backyard. 7 bug bites, later, we made it to Lagoon the next day. It was a pretty fun amusement park, and I got to know people better. You probably won’t believe this, but I went on a good FIVE rollercoasters! They weren’t even kiddie ones! Well, some of them weren’t, haha. I’m a scardy cat of EVERYTHING, so I’m pretty proud of my accomplishments. I was a little disappointed with the actual park, but it was a beautiful day, and I loved the company. (*MORE PICTURES TO COME!*)

After a private dining experience at IHOP, we camped under the stars an packed up our things. Sunday, it was my first time going to church in jeans and flip-flops. We ate at a WONDERFUL Indian place (ps- one thing I miss about not being in civilization in Rexburg is definitely the ethnic food). My goal: to replicate that delectable meal. Indian food is super hard to make, but I’m determined. Anyways, we spent a long time walking around Temple Square. My favorite part aside from running into the beautiful steffani Hammond was the tour of the conference center- more specifically, the art museum that I didn’t see the last time I was there. It was a beautiful experience to see all of the original paintings that I’ve seen since I was a child.

We got pulled over (for a broken muffler, so it’s all good), and our car broke down- Bruce’s gas pedal gave out, which has never happened to me before, so it was a little scary. But what trip to Utah could exclude a cop and a car problem?

After going to bed at 330am, I’m still trying to catch up from that weekend, but it was super fun and I’m glad that I got the experience to go!

So… I’m the manager over a Humanitarian Service group on campus. Our big project this semester is the “Adopt-a-Platoon” Carnival, where we’re asking for donations for care packages to send to soldiers overseas in remote areas. So, it’s free, but the more items you bring, the more tickets you get to play fun games! It’s a SUPER stressful task, but I’m loving every minute of it! I’m so luck to have so much support. I’ve been learning a lot about how to be a better leader, and I’m so grateful for that! I talked to our AAP contact and we found out the specifics of our platoon today- our items are being sent to a chaplain in iraq who personally takes them to soldiers in an extremely remote area. I was told that the food they eat all comes from a local village, so all they have is goat milk and goat meat. I’m SO SO grateful for people that volunteer for wonderful organizations like this, and I’m go grateful for the “power” that I have to direct focus and support towards this organization. I hope that this carnival is not only SUPER fun, but that we can truly make a difference in these soldiers’ lives and promote this organization in the process.

School is going well. I’m loving it all. My mom and sister are coming at the end of this week, and I can’t wait to see them! Ro is coming for a few days, too, so I’m stoked! There are a ton of fun things coming up within the next couple weekends… hiking, concerts, carnivals, oh my! =]