I WILL be going back!

The other day a woman from the MTC called me because it is her job to call all of the missionaries who come home early from the MTC. She called and asked me a bunch of questions and wanted to see how I was doing. When she got to the last question she was completely shocked at my answer! She asked me, "So do you still plan on coming back to the MTC?" I said "YES!!!" she said, really? I said there is absolutely NOTHING that could stop me from coming back save the Lord having something else in mind for me. She said that was not an answer she has heard very often, she said the percentage of missionaries that come back to the mission after coming home early is really low. She wished me the best of luck and to keep up the good work and said they would be keeping my bed warm for me- I said thanks and I would be there soon!! I don't have a definite date yet as to when I am going back but right now it is looking like September/October ish. I can not wait!!! So anyway I just wanted everyone to know that I am GOING TO GO BACK!!! It is the most important thing to me and I want it so bad!

Breaking the Rules

So as many of you already know , my Stake President and I decided that while I am home for these few months I should still live some of the mission rules. For instance , arise at 6:30 retire at 10:30, listen to only church music, and so on and so forth. Well last night I for sure broke some rules!! Mom got 5 tickets to the "Paisley Party 2008" for free from her boss. So she gave them to me and I gathered up four of my friends and we headed out to Cricket Pavilion to see BRAD PAISLEY!! It was such a great concert and we found a really great spot on the lawn in the "family friendly" section, which meant there weren't any drunken cowboys or anything which was nice. I had fun on my little night out on the town, lol but I am glad to go back to my missionary life style.

Brad Paisley- He sure puts on a good concert!! It was really fun!

Our awesome lawn spot!

Kilie, Cristina and I chilling in the surprisingly nice AZ heat! It was not bad for June!!

Jen and Stephanie

Posing! lol

What else do you do in between sets if not take funny pictures?

Happy concert- goers!

Ya um, Steph ate a few too many air heads!! lol :)


Brad Paisley singing "Online" I had this song on my iPod before I left for the mission so I for sure sang aloud to this one he hee cause I have such a great voice! lol

Flash Forward

On Sunday I was a mom for the day and it felt a bit like a flash forward to my future! lol My friend Amy and her husband went up to Girl's Camp for the day and I watched their four little girls. I have watched them for days at a time before- no big deal. But for some reason this time was different. Usually I plan fun activities and we run around and do cool stuff, but this was a Sunday and I am just so busy and have a totally different mind set now a days. So we went to church and hung out afterwards. By the time I put the girls to bed I was exhausted and told myself that I am for sure going to remember to enjoy these times now when I am single and can just worry about myself. Only taking care of me is quite a treat that I think I take for granted!! lol So anyway it was a bit of an eye opening experience reminding me to enjoy life in the here and now, cause there will be plenty of time in the future to worry about all this other stuff.

Me in the Mormon Assault Vehichle lol aka Amy's Suburban. Can't wait till the day that I have to drive one of these all the time! ha ha. But hey by the time I'm a mom we might just be strapping our kids to the roof of a smart car if things continue the way they are! lol

Tagged!

Alright I was tagged by Cristina so I took all the pics Saturday when I got the tag, now I have time to post them. So here it is- the random picture tag.

The rules are you have to take ten pictures of the following things. And you have to do it right away. No straightening, cleaning or wiping the snot from your child's nose. Then you tag five others. So here it goes:

1. Kitchen sink:
-Someone must have just done the dishes- sure wasn't me! I hate the dishes and only do them when I am told to. Ya I know I am such a grown up right? lol

2. Toilet:
-I no longer have to share a bathroom, so it is always clean as well! Yay!

3. Laundry Room:
-We for sure don't have a laundry "room" it is a closet! Kind of a pain! And not until I uploaded the pic did I realize there is a giant America West magnet stuck on the front of our washer! lol I am real observant! Not!

4. Fridge:
-My fav thing in there is definitely the milk! I would eat milk and cereal for every meal- seriously!!

5. What are your kids doing right now?
- Well these are the closest things to "kids" at my house. Pepper was waiting for dad to come back in the house and Sandy was chilling on the floor.

6. Favorite Pair of Shoes:
-Without a shadow of a doubt my Phoenix Suns Nikes!! These shoes are awesome and you can tell I am a Suns fan from a mile away! lol I wore these for gym every day at the MTC and I got the nickname Phoenix!

7. Favorite Room:
-For sure my bedroom!! It is my sanctuary. And it is ALWAYS clean! I am kinda spastic when it comes to my room- it has to be spotless!

8. Closet: Nothing special. Most of my stuff is still packed up in boxes. I only unpacked the essentials.

9. Dream vacation: It seriously changes depending on the month but right now it is for sure Provo Utah!! I really miss my Utah friends and I am DYING to see them again SOON!!


10. Self-Portrait
-Lucky for you I got tagged on a Saturday, so my hair was done and I had make up on!!

Now I get to tag five others! Camille, Lindsay Frost, Adam, Kilie and Amy your turn! You better do it!!! :)

Blessings

I have been thinking a lot lately and I have been running through in my head the events and current circumstances of my life. One thing that kept coming back to me is how very blessed I am. The Lord has always had his hand in my life. Putting people and situations in my life for a reason, but it is not until lately that I have really recognized them for what they really are- BLESSINGS! I wanted to take some time and write down some of these many blessings that keep coming to my mind. In no particular order here is the list I came up with:

-The temple. It is not until very recently that I discovered the true joy behind going to the temple. I truly love serving in the house of the Lord. It is such a blessing to have a temple ten minutes away from my house.

-My Job. At first this doesn't seem like much of a blessing, but oh how it is! First of all a paycheck is so vital, but not only do I just get a paycheck- I have fun and learn something new everyday. I really do enjoy my job and I am good at it. It is such a blessing to have a job that I like and I do well. It helps me to build my confidence for sure when my bosses tell me what a good counselor I am. The other great thing about it is how much I learn from the kids! I feel that the Lord helps me to improve each day by learning lessons from my kids in my class.

-My parents. I think sometimes I take my folks for granted. I just figured they would always be there, if I needed them I could always come to them. It's true they have always been there for me but they have gone above and beyond. They show love for me in so many ways and I am so grateful to them for their understanding and constant unconditional love. I would never be where I am today if I hadn't had such righteous examples for my parents. I grew up in such a loving, accepting and FUN home and that is what helped me to have the personality I do now. I not only look so much like my mother I act like her in a lot of ways also. My mom is so positive and up beat. She makes friends with everyone and is so cheery! It has been such a blessing to watch her and have her as a role model all my life.

-Comfortable Living. I was thinking about it the other day as the A/C went out in my car, how very grateful I am to have such nice things. I have a running car with air conditioning (dad fixed it) a nice house to come home to every day and plenty of food on the table. I am so grateful that I do not have to struggle to live everyday and that the Lord has blessed me with these comforts.

-The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The gospel has hold on the biggest piece of my heart! I would be lost without it. I honestly can't describe what a blessing it is to have a testimony of the true Church of Jesus Christ here on the earth today. I love my Heavenly Father and my Older Brother Jesus Christ and I try to live every day improving myself to try to be the best I can for them.

-The Book of Mormon. I can't tell you how many times I have had problems in my life and this book has been there as a guide to me. So many of my questions have been answered, my fears calmed, my whole soul comforted from the Words of God contained in this book. It is such a blessing in my life.

-So Many People Who Love Me. I have many friends who would do anything for me. Several actually have- gone out of their way to be there for me. I am grateful for the blessing of having these people in my life. It is such an amazing feeling to feel constantly loved and supported by SO MANY PEOPLE. I for sure can't even begin to list them, there are just so many amazing people in my life who love me so much and I am oh so blessed!!

-Love for Service. The Lord has blessed me with a love for serving others. There is nothing I enjoy more than bringing a smile to someone's face!! I love to help others and do whatever I can to help them to be happy. I have the greatest desire to serve The Lord and I am so grateful for that desire.

-Best Friends. I have two best friends and I am so blessed to have them both in my life. We have so much fun hanging out together and can entertain ourselves so easily! lol They are just the BEST (hence the whole best friends title) and I love 'em!

-The Ability to Laugh at Myself. I am very grateful that the Lord has blessed me with the ability to look back on my life, things I've said and done and just laugh. I've made mistakes, who hasn't? But I can look back and see that everything happens for a reason and I can learn from all of my experiences. The Lord for sure blessed me with a sense of humor and an easy going attitude that has definitely come in handy during my trials.

-My Brothers. When I was a kid I always wished I had a sister, but instead I was "Stuck" with two brothers. It turns out the Lord knew what he was doing (as always) because my brothers are such a blessing to me! I love both of them so much! My older brother has been such an example to me in my life. He has always been the one I looked up to. My baby brother is one of my best friends! He and I have such a special bond and I am so proud of him. I am so grateful to have them both in my life!

-Spanish. I truly love the Spanish language and the Lord has blessed me so much to be able to understand it. I have been able to remember so much of my Spanish and it is constantly running through my head. I have been blessed to have a Spanish Branch in my stake and a Stake President who was inspired to send me there. I love attending the Spanish branch and being around the people and sharing with them in their love for the Savior.

-My District. I am so blessed to have been able to spend six weeks in the MTC with these AMAZING missionaries. Every single one of them became a life long friend to me and I am so grateful to have had their amazing examples and influence in my life. I love them all so much!

-Church Music 24/7. Since I have been home I have been living life as much like a missionary as possible. So there is only church music on my iPod and it has been such a blessing! It has such a calming and peaceful effect on me! It pretty much is fabulous!

-Adam. I have what I call my "super friend" Adam and he is just such a blessing to me. The Lord knew that I would need help with this whole being home from my mission situation and so he was gracious enough to put Adam into my life. I met Adam while at the MTC, he was formerly Hermano Wing to me (my teacher) but now he is my friend, one whom without I would be very lost. I can always ask him for advice, tell him about my bad days, have random conversations about converting the world to eat at Carls Jr, and I can just count on him always. I am so grateful to my super friend!!!


I for sure have so many more blessings in my life but these are just a few that I have been thinking about lately and thought I would share with you.

No Tiempo Para Nada!!

I am so insanely busy I have time for well.... NOTHING!! It's so good though because it's hard to get yourself in trouble if you are so gosh darn busy! lol I have been working all day and then I have a three hour Spanish class every night. Any "free time" I have (usually about 2-3 hours a day) is spent doing homework or writing letters to my district and my baby bro. For any of you that know my Baby Bro Kevin he is on his 5th Week at the MTC preparing to go to the Denmark Copenhagen mission. He is doing great especially in his situation- he is the ONLY Danish elder in the entire MTC! Crazy!!! I am looking forward to the weekend where I will have some actual down time! Yay!!!! So anyway, that is your quick update in the world of Kristi!

Baptism

AMAZING!!! Tonight I had the wonderful opportunity to attend my friend from high school, Christy Williams, baptism. There are not words to describe how fabulous this evening was. Christy was just beaming with the spirit and she was just so happy!! I am so grateful I was able to be there on her special day!

Kristi, Christy, Cristina
-Because that's not confusing!! lol-