My Third Nightmare

I have two nightmares when it comes to shopping. I usually LOVE going shopping with my mom, it is always more fun with her around. Sometimes I will go shopping by myself, but then about 10 minutes after being at the store I will pull out my cell phone and call my mom and the conversation will go a little something like this:
Me: Hi Mom!
Mom: What's up Kris?
Me: Mom the next time I decide to go shopping without you please stop me!
Mom: ha ha Why?
Me: Because shopping without you is NO fun and I hate it!!!!!! I guess I just forget and so I attempt to do it and every time, the same result, I am not happy!

So suffice it to say, I like shopping with my mom and any time she asks if I want to go it is a rule of thumb that I will say yes, but there are two exceptions to that rule. Number one- if the intended place to go shopping is a Micheal's, Joanne's or Hobby Lobby I will say NO!!! Wandering around in a craft store for over an hour is torture!! The other exception is the grocery store. I do not, repeat do not like shopping at the grocery store with mom!!! One trip takes forever, she says "oh I just need a few things" but then we end up going down every aisle and fill the cart to capacity!! Both the craft stores and grocery stores are my two biggest nightmares, but this week I have added a third to my list!! As if two was not enough!!!!!

Any ideas as to what my third nightmare might be? I will give you a hint... it involves this

Have you figured it out yet? I'll make it easy for you....
Here is a shot of the outside of this wretched place

That's right there exists a store devoted solely to buckets, rows and strands of these evil little things!!

Now why you might ask would I even say yes to going to such a store as this. Well in all of my naive innocence I thought it would be fun to pick out some beads. See my grandmother is quite an amazing necklace maker (not a word I know, but ask me if I care) and she loves to make jewelry for me.

So I accompanied mom and Grandma to this absolutely awful place!! The beads never ended, it went on and on forever so it seemed!! Mom and grandma seemed to sort through almost every bucket and pick out just the right beads! I was going crazy waiting for them. So I have found my third nightmare!!! Beads Galore! -An extremely evil store in which I will be forced to lose my mind and wish I had never crossed the threshold of such a wretched place!

4 Months

It has been exactly four months since the day I came home from the MTC on Medical Release. I just wanted to take the time to let you all know how I am doing and also bear my testimony to you. I know that although coming home after only 6 weeks of my mission was never in my plans, it was in the Lords- and that is truly all that matters. It has been a very tough 4 months and I have had a lot of challenges, but through them all I have grown up a lot and also changed a lot. It was the Lord's will for me to come home from my mission. He knew that I needed to grow and change before really serving my mission. I am so grateful for this opportunity I have had to be home and am also SO SO SO excited for the opportunity I have to put my papers in (for the second time) next Sunday. I am going to go back out on my mission a better person with greater desire to serve. Throughout this whole process of being home my desire to serve has NEVER decreased, only strengthened!! The reason this was possible was because I have a testimony. I know that the Lord wanted me to come home but I also knew that He wants me to serve a mission. I was so at peace with that and was able to put all of my Faith in him and His plan that he has for my life, without that there is NO WAY I would be returning as soon as next month!! I love the Gospel and I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is truly Christ's church restored on the earth once again. I am forever grateful for the power of the atonement and the knowledge that I have that my savior Jesus Christ suffered for my sins and all that I have gone through and has felt all of my pain- I am never alone no matter what I go through and that is the greatest blessing I could ever recieve.

Snapshots of me

The serious face- this was hard for me to do!

That's more like it!!

Mom jumped in a pic with me, it's a good thing I had a hat on otherwise I would look like her clone! ha ha It is almost scary how much we look alike!!!!

Pose, ok I can do that.

The real me- smiling all the while!!


My Sister-in-Law Sarah took these the other day so she could add some more shots to her portfolio- I really like the first and last one! I figure she has to be a good photographer if she can just pull me out of the house, throw me in front of our bricks and make me look good!! ha ha So if any of you are looking for someone to take your pics- Sarah has reduced rates right now so check out her website and book a shoot! :)

Me and my Annie Girl

I got to watch Annie today while the rest of her family went tubing down the salt river. I was so excited to watch her- it has been so long!! Ok well prolly just a little over a month but to me that is way too long!!! So anyway I had a blast today with my Annie girl! We ran a bunch of errands and played, I just love having her with me, she is such a joy and brings so much happiness into my life! We went over to my brother's house to pick up some things I left there and while we were there my Sister-in-law Sarah snapped a few pics of me with Anners. Sarah is starting her own photography business and so she has been "practicing" on the family and I think these pictures turned out so cute!

She is so shy at first which just totally cracks me up!

She started to warm up a little bit

Then I gave her kisses

She LIKES kisses!!!!

Krispy Kremes

Grandma and Mom with our first dozen of Krispy Kremes in far too long!

We used to have Krispy Kremes all over Arizona, but then sadly they all went bankrupt and the state was left without a single place to buy good donuts!! Well as luck would have just a few months ago they reopened one of the Krispy Kremes here and all of us donut lovers are oh so happy!

Freak of Nature

Ok so anywhere but Arizona this might be considered "normal". In AZ this is anything but normal- it is CRAZY!! We have been having some pretty cool storms this summer and we thought we had the last of them two weeks ago, but now they are back with a vengeance!! Last night dad and I went to see a movie and when we came out of the theater it was raining and there was insane lightining. When we got home it started raining even harder and the lightning was continous- the whole sky was lit up and I almost felt like I was at Disneyland watching Fantasmic or something! My parents and I sat out on our back porch and enjoyed the show! ha ha


I recorded this last night while standing at my front door! I love how one of the flashes of lightning is so bright that you can see the car parked out in front of my house!! I love storms (as long as I am safe and sound while watching them)!!!

Courage

So, I don't talk about it much- but this period of my life, the waiting period, is the HARDEST thing I have ever gone through. Coming home from a mission and then waiting to get better so I can go back, man I never would of imagined how tough this would be. I have grown a lot during this time and I have learned to really turn to my Heavenly Father. It has been such a good thing for me, this whole coming home experience- but I would be lying if I said it wasn't REALLY hard. I have about 2 months left of waiting and preparing and getting better- than hopeful around November I will be back on my mission! As I have been waiting I have been keeping my mind focused on returning- I have a burning desire to serve a mission and I want to go back so bad! Everyone around me has been affected by this whole experience and they have all been helping me out so much.

This week my Grandma was so sweet and found this necklace for me. She bought this for me because she was thinking of me and all that I am going through. The necklace stands for courage and this is what it said on the box "Courage of the heart is courage to believe in your dreams... Never give up on your dreams". So now I wear this beautiful new necklace everyday, it reminds me of how loved I am and also that there are people behind me supporting me no matter what. My dream is to serve a mission and I will never give up on it and I know that I have many people who will never give up on me. I am so blessed. Thanks to all of you who have stood by me through thick and thin. Thanks Grandma for this beautiful reminder! I love you!!!