My BEST FRIEND ever

PLEASE NOTICE MY SLIDESHOW. It needs some attention right now. :)

Tomorrow marks one of the hardest days of my life. I have said goodbyes before, I have even said it 3 times before with her, but this one's different! It is not just for a few shorts months...this is for a potentially long amount of time. This could easily be my longest post ever...

Aubrey has been with me throughout my entire BYU experience. We have been referred to as partners in crime. When we are not together, we are asked where our other half is. It started back in the dorms, moved to Liberty Square, and then we settled in Chatsworth for the last two years. Normally they say, best friends don't make good roommates, but we proved that wrong! I loved living with her. I love the talks we get to have at night. I love the surprises I would find like a wet toilet seat after she showers or coming in to see her shaving in the bathroom sink. My favorite is when I would come home from school and find her sleeping in my bed (this happened on multiple occasions). We have gone through every ward together. We know most of the same people, although she might be a bit more popular than me (We have nearly 300 common friends on facey!). She can dance like no one I know and tries to show that she has some Latin in her with her booty shakes. We LOVE some ghetto music and have weaknesses for songs like "Love In The Club" by Usher and "Cyclone" by Baby Bash. We have recently developed Bieber fever and he has done us good.

She is the only person I have met who cares about BYU sports as much as I do. For instance, today I got a text to tell me that she had just seen a BYU Basketball player back from a mission and on campus. Of course this excites us more than it should. In response I said, "You remember what he looks like in person!? (It has been 2 years since we've seen him!) We are ridiculous!" The way she answered me is classic of how we feel towards BYU athletes, "hahah no, we are just friends with them....in my head :)" We can tell you the names of everyone on the football and basketball team and then any useful information like whether they are single, dating, or married (and that has never been publicly announced so if we could keep that between you and me please!).

On a more serious note, Aubrey loves with all of her heart. She cares and she is always willing to give of her time and talents. She has been such a wonderful example to me and I am always in awe with the testimony she has of the gospel. She listens to promptings by the Spirit, no matter how hard and/or heartbreaking they might be. Because she is so close to the Spirit, I honestly believe our lives have been saved on multiple occasions. She is also the one who chose for us to live in Chatsworth. She was so picky about housing after Liberty Square and I was just ready to live somewhere. I am so glad we ended up at Chatsworth because I have made some of my closest friends there. She has been with me through the hardest moments of my life and I have leaned on her strength more than she knows.

Aubrey supported me in my work. She visited my classrooms multiple times. I am usually pretty hesitant when I allow people to come in. It gets awkward at times and lots of people do not know how to react in some situations. With Aubrey, I never had to worry or tell her what to do. She loved those kids as much as I did and they knew it too.

Her east coast style has rubbed off on me - I recently bought my first pair of Sperry boat shoes. She bought matching ones. But, I have also rubbed off on her. When we met, her closet consisted of everything black. I have brought color into her life and she looks SO good in it!

We love each other, even when we are laughing at each other. We have a running joke: "I am glad we share a sense of humor and an understanding that I'm slightly funnier." A card once told me something a long the lines that a good friend can make you laugh, but a best friend can make you snort. She is definitely my best friend.

I am so proud of her. Off to make her name amongst the stars of the NBA! I know this is not the end of our adventures and that is the only thing that is holding me together these last few days. We have sent BYU on quite the run and I just hope that the world is now ready for us.

mom and dad

I have done a lot of reflecting the last few days on my parents.

I had the opportunity to speak on Sunday. My topic: The Mother I Am Going To Be. Of course - that leaves me thinking a ton about my mom and the things she has taught me. She is the most wonderful person I know and she has always put us first. She is a wonderful example of the mother that I would like to become. We talk nearly everyday, but I cannot wait to go home and spend lots of quality time with my mom!

Then, my dad called me on Monday to see if I would pick him up from the airport on Tuesday. What a wonderful surprise! Of course he is here for work work work, but I at least get a trip to the airport and back with him. This afternoon we went to lunch together. I LOVE going to lunch with my dad - just like the daddy daughter dates we used to do! I am always amazed at the faith dad has in the choices he makes. While thinking about the mom I wanted to become, I also though a lot about the type of man I want to marry and the man I created was definitely a lot like my father.

FIFA World Cup!

The world cup started this morning. I am writing this while watching my MEXICO take on South Africa. (South Africa just scored in the 55th minute. The best part of the goal was the dance South Africa did after!). Mexico's Giovani Dos Santos is by far my favorite player today. :)

My last post was about soccer and here is another. I LOVE watching soccer. I love being crazy about a team. I love how the entire WORLD is going crazy over soccer and we are ALL watching these games. I wish that the US got more into soccer. It is such a beautiful sport and the world stops to watch it.

The best thing about this next week is that the Finals and the World Cup are both going on! Soccer by morning, my Lakers by night. Now, this is summer!! Waking up early and staying up late, all for the love of watching games.

RSL love

I grew up playing soccer but sort of lost my love for it once high school came around. My love for soccer was rekindled 2 summers ago as I studied in Mexico. Our good friend introduced us to Atlas and none of us really had a chance to like any other team. Watching Atlas play is Estadio Jalisco was amazing and one of my favorite things that we did in Mexico (I know, I have a pathetic love for sports).

So, I came back for my Junior year at BYU and Aubrey's dad started working with Real Salt Lake. That obviously meant I had to support Aubrey in supporting her dad and accompanying her to many games. Last season RSL took the MLS Cup against the LA Galaxy. The game was in Seattle. I was listening to it on the radio and got home just in time to run up and watch the shootout! It was amazing.

Last night a lot of things were happening:

1. We took on the Galaxy again, who has been undefeated so far this year.
2. It was a celebration for Mel's birthday.
3. This was my last game with Aubrey before she moves out to New York to start grown up life.
4. AND after the game, David Cook was going to be playing.

We WON! The concert was SO fun! It was just an overall WONDERFUL night.

BEE Winners? Ya, radio stations were all over us.

color esperanza

I haven't had a summer with no job or no school probably since my sophomore year of high school. I loved it back then, but I need something to keep me busy these days.

Today I washed my car. It's now raining.

For family home evening we walked to a park (during the walk there a few girls and I talked about our favorite canciones en espanol - hence the title of this post) and it turned into a huge whipped cream/water balloon fight. I can still smell the whipped cream stuck in my nose. It is disgusting but it was sooo fun. I love getting dirty, especially when I am wearing Aubrey's clothes and get to use her shower to clean up!

Later we decided to head to a playground, one with a lot of swings. I decided to have a twist contest (meaning I spin myself in the swing and see how many times I can go around...) and Kendrick made sure to twist me until the swing could twist no more. I now have a serious headache. ----- This is amazing to me. My students would sit in our swing ALL day if I would let them and their favorite thing to do was spin and spin and spin. I never realized how truly hard that is. Wow.

summer

I love:

• the sun
• wearing skirts and sun dresses
• the cool thunder and lightning storms (like last night!)
• doing everything outside
• driving with the windows down
• blasting my summer music
• bike rides
• reading in the sun
• reading reading reading!
• hiking
• Lakers in the Finals
• driving my new car :)

But right now I am seriously missing:

• my students - soooo so much
• my family
• the beach
• Shaver Lake
• tubing/wakeboarding/wakesurfing
• San Marcos

A Memorable Memorial Day Weekend

This Memorial Day weekend has been one that I will never forget.

Friday I went to the funeral of Jenny Ames. She was in a car accident driving home from BYU Idaho a little over a week ago. I did not know her personally, but I know her mom and her mom was always talking about her. She was "too perfect" her mom told me. I was very touched by the service and it was very apparent that she lived as an example of Christlike love.

After the funeral, Michelle picked me up and we went to visit the cemeteries where my great grandma and great great grandparents are buried. What a wonderful experience, one I am very glad Michelle shared with me.

Then that night it was off to Vegas. As many of you might know, a good friend of mine, Robi, passed away last October. I still think of Robi nearly everyday. Well, Robi's parents invited us down for a BBQ at their place on Saturday. So I left with SEVEN boys (lucky me right!?) and we made it to Vegas at about midnight on Friday night. We explored the strip until about 3:00 a.m. when we headed to the Sundell residence.

The next morning through early evening was spent outside, swimming, eating, and playing a game of fishing - the boys could've done that for hours on end. It was wonderful. The Sundells were so very nice and I could not be more grateful for them. I loved seeing where Robi came from. I saw Robi's gigantic heart in each of his family members. There was no contention and a whole lot of serving all weekend.

After playing all day we ate at Robi's favorite restaurant - Farm Basket. Yum! Then it was off to the strip again. This time we wanted to get home semi early. I went up to the Stratosphere with two of the boys to ride those insane, crazy things up top. It was like I was up there, ready to die! I was so scared but eventually got on two of the rides. A thrill...but I screamed more than anyone else and unless I feel really brave, it would take a lot to get me to do that again!

Oh! I also finally saw the Bellagio Fountains! They ended with the National Anthem - pretty neat.

Sunday we went to church with the Sundells and then it was back to Provo with a few stops a long the way in Mesquite and Parowan (where the boys got to shoot BB Guns and sling shots, of course).

All weekend I have really thought that I am the luckiest girl I know. Even now, as I talk about it and tell people what I did, I can't stop thinking it. I am so glad that the boys thought to invite me - it means more than they will ever know. I have absolutely LOVED every single minute and memory I have with these great boys that I met three years ago in Liberty Square. They have become family to me and of all the kids I have met at BYU, they have stuck around the longest. I love them. I am so grateful for the Sundells and the love that they have shown us. I am grateful that I got to see how Robi became Robi. I know that am so blessed to have known Robi. He never fails to touch my life and I am trying my best to become a better person through the lessons he taught me.