So help me.

Here I am ready to embark on 3 days of hiking the Routeburn track- used in filming Lord of the Rings!  My pack is super heavy, and I was in the ER with Mags’ chest pains until late last night, so I’m feeling less prepared than I hoped to be. I have barely any food (highly concerning) and snow is in the forecast.  So help me.  

FAMILY TIES

After catching up on a friends' blog, I am motivated to do a little thanking of my own. Although I haven't spoken with any of you for almost 2 months, I still feel so close to you. I want to do a mini-spotlight on each of you to remind you of what you already know:

Mom and Dad- I have the greatest parents on earth! Throughout my entire life, I have never doubted your love for me. As I get older, I reflect more on the principles you used in parenting and your examples of love and leadership. I get so excited thinking about my future opportunity to parent Heavenly Father's children as I know I will rely on your example as a guide post. Regardless of my personal choices and situations I get myself into, I have always known that you love me and will support me. I always want to make decisions that will make you proud! Dad, your goal setting habit and attention to people and relationships has helped me decide and become the person I want to be. Mom, your energy for life and confidence in yourself inspires me to embrace my own passions!

Rick- You make me want to be my best, smartest self! You suck stress out of situations and take the blame for anything :) I love how follow your dreams. I love how you teach your children the scriptures. I love how you use your talents to help other people (in being a doctor). I love how you sing karaoke. I love how you never care what other people think! I love how your calling is a priority. I love how you never complain. I love how you treat my sister like a queen!

Heather- Where do I start? We have so many fun memories together! Being so far apart in age, we have really had several stages in our relationship. I remember just wanting to share a room with you SO badly, and looking forward to our Sunday pow-wows where we traded of sneaking treats and choosing games. Then you left the house and I turned into a faucet for about a year. I lived vicariously through your adventures and felt so cool to be related to you. Those feelings never changed, but recently I admire your ability to spice up any social function, and reach out to people who are less involved. Whenever I notice someone in my life who seems friendless, I try to think of how you would handle the situation. I LOVE you and I LOVE your family!

Tanner- I love spending time with you because you say things as they are. You love to learn and you know how to have fun!

Sienna- You are always looking to please! I have a lot to learn from your tender heart and desire to serve.

Shannon- I love Shannon because she poses for crazy photo shoots and lets her siblings "play" with her. Shannon has done a great job pushing through the pain of teething and learning to crawl. Yay!

Bryan- What an incredible brother! I love how you pull people out of their shells and get to know the real person. No wonder you were such a great EFY counselor! You are so sensitive to other people's needs and do what you can to make others happy. I can always count on you to slide the block of cheese through the checkout counter or make a meal out of myseterious leftover cans. I wish I could have my own way of doing things like you do. China wouldn't have been the same without you... :)

Phil- I am so happy my sister has found someone she loves so much! You are ready for an adventure and constantly seeking opportunities to serve. You are so humble and meek- very respectable characteristics if you ask me! You have such a desire to do what is right and will do whatever it takes.

Noelle- You have been my best friend for who knows how long? I have always wanted to just be you! I admire you for the values you posess and the righteous life you lead. You know how to make living the gospel fun! I love your pizazz and creativity! You make the best of situations gone wrong and do a great job of intentionally planning fun times. I love your organization and your spontenaity. You have what I consider to be the perfect balance! You understand me and you know how to tease me. I love that we share so many favorite hobbies and love doing crafts! You do a great job in the kitchen SSSN :)

And what would I do without Beegee??? You have always been my biggest fan! You are so witty, creative and kind! You encourage me to be my best self and never sweat the small stuff. I can tell you love me because you get SO excited when I call and you always want to know what is going on in my life. You care about me so much and I know you are always wanting the best for me. You are such a positive, charitable person! I hope I can be just like you someday!!!

I love you guys and I'm so grateful that even a giant ocean can't seperate us!!! I definitely sense the pysical distance between us, but I feel our friendship as I reflect on the fun memories we have together and remember what makes each of you my examples and my friends. I feel strength as our family builds loving, uplifting relationships, observes our covenants and duties, takes personal responsibility to do good, and develops the skills to accomplish our goals in becoming an eternal family!!!

February 14, 2008

Here is an excerpt from my journal entry for the day of love:

"Here I am. Valentines Day 2008. At least I am listening to Jim Brickman and wearing target heart socks ☺ Can life get better? I ate frosted sugar cookies and made cutout valentines. This morning we had class in yet, a different room- C-301. It was super cramped and hard to learn. Our new students must have been freaked out. Well, we ate chocolate, and Haeree and Marcie gave everyone a valentine. They were all so funny and colorful!
After that, I choked down half a chili/grated cheese sandwich and rode like the wind to Windsor North primary school. When we went inside, Principal Roger Stephenson told us we can eat in the staff lounge and help ourselves to tea anytime. I love New Zealand :) We went outside straightaway and got some resources out of the shed. I was kind of rushed because we didn’t know exactly what we needed and didn’t really have an idea of the space we were to use. We set up some cones and things and then collected up the kids from lunch. They were already divided into teams, and were all set to play competitive games. Since Megan and I just had group games planned, we quickly came up with team relays so they could use their teams.

I tried to do a name game at the beginning, but alliteration was too much for those youngsters. They did running, hopping, the crab walk… and all sorts of just running games. After the lunch games, we all separated out into classrooms. I am with Room 8- and Mr. Goodsir. I introduced myself to the class and answered questions about what its like to live in America. It was funny to answer questions about New York city and Hollywood. They LOVED my American accent.

We had roast chicken for tea, very good! Ali and I rode to the church for a Valentine's Day party! I gave Cam and Tyler really funny valentines, and I got this strange compulsion to eat a stranger's cookie that was sitting abandoned on a table. It turns out this little boy made it for his mom, so I spent the next while running away from him and hiding under the ping pong table. Oops. We had a dance party, a cake walk and lots of celebrations of love. It seems as if Ali and I are either clawing each other or poking one another's ears out, but in reality, we are making half a heart on each side of each other's faces... My crazy poses don't really work out most of the time.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE VEGETABLE?

I just want you to appreciate the amount and variety of vegetables I ate at tea tonight.  MInd you, everything is grown in the garden:

Cauliflower (with cheese)

Broccoli (lemon flavored)

Green beans

Pumpkin (my favorite)

Mashed potatoes (SO good!)

These next ones were in the salad:

Lettuce

Cucumber

Corn

Tomato

Raddish

Green pepper

That makes a grand total of 11!  When was the last time you had that many ifferent veggies in the same week?  Mags is CRAZY and she treats us well :) WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE VEGETABLE?

(p.s.  I know at least 4 immediate family members who are reading this post, and not planning on leaving a comment.  I just want you to know that I need external motivation (i.e. comments!) to continue my habit of blogging... Come on guys!)  

What do you like to do at the beach?

Frisbee? (Haree-sounds like Head- ie)

Guitar? (Marci)

Watch waves? (Ashley)

I think my favorite thing about the beach is chatting. Depending on how well you know me, you understand that LOVE chatting! No expected outcome for the conversation, no rules about who can talk when, no problem to solve. I love chatting with people I trust. Although, I had a really good time playing soccer in the wet sand yesterday... but it is trouble when a big wave comes!

I'm a LIST kind of girl!

10 Things I miss about my past life in America:

1. High water pressure

2. Light SWITCHES

3. Fairly priced cosmetics ($5 vs. $27 eye shadow)

4. Straightening my hair

5. Hot and cold in the same faucet

6. Tampons with applicators

7. BRITA water filters! (the water here is gross!)

8. Google results that make sense

9. Using electronics without a converter

10. Showering more than twice a week :)

So, please enjoy these luxeries that are easy to take for granted...

13 Random Insights about living in NZ/camping:

You really can live off the land

It’s a lot easier to resist nail biting when they’re dirty

Hydrate or DIE

Headlamps ROCK! (I’ll never go back to flashlights, ever!)

Splash guards on Nalgenes prevent wet shirts

Waterproof mascara saves lives.

Showering with shoes STINKS!

If you’re touring NZ, go on test-drives beforehand. Up and down WINDY roads!

I love citrus in the morning

Toe strap Chacos are just the BEST

Journals fill up quickly

Get used to never looking in a mirror.

You can, in fact, feel mosquitoes bite.

Top 7 Reasons its great to be sunburnt:

You have an excuse not to change your clothes

You don’t get yelled at for using all the hot water

You know relief is coming in a few days

You’re never cold when you sleep because your body radiates heat

You gain an appreciation for healthy skin

You will be tan soon!

You feel no guilt for sleeping in silk

Don’t you wish you could be sunburnt like I was???

An Extraordinary Example

Today is “SDL” (Student Directed Learning) day for school. In essence, that means, NO SCHOOL! This day off came at the perfect time, because it has given me a chance to reflect on my goals and align my life with the things that are important to me. I am a little embarrassed to admit it, but today was the first chance I have really taken to reflect on President Hinckley’s influence on the church, and on my life personally. I’m not going to share all the inner workings of my mind/heart, but wanted to express some of the most valuable things I remember from President Hinckley’s life:

1. Stand a Little Taller- President Hinckley taught us to “Stand a little taller, be a little better, look to God and live.” He inspired me to take a look at my life and change just one thing at a time without feeling overwhelmed.

2. The 6 Be’s ☺- The 6 Be’s are President Hinckley’s counsel and prayer for youth given in the year 2000. This list was posted on my bathroom mirror all through high school: Be GRATEFUL, Be SMART Be CLEAN Be TRUE Be HUMBLE and Be PRAYERFUL. I find strength in living these principles and using them as a guide in daily decisions.

3. The Proclamation- In September of 1995, President Hinckley gave an inspired and definitive statement on the family. I love the proclamation because it characterizes the family as the fundamental unit of society and clarifies gender roles, marriage, and parenthood in terms of the Plan of Happiness.

4. Temples- President Hinckley dedicated/rededicated 92 different temples! I believe that the existence of temples lessens Satan’s power on the earth. The temple is the source and center of our covenants. President Hinckley’s commitment to temple work gives saints greater opportunity to gain instruction, realize eternal potential, make covenants, unite families, gain strength in facing trials, experience peace, and gain personal revelation. What an awesome gift!

5. The Perpetual Education Fund- President Hinckley introduced this program of the church in 2001 to help provide members with a good education and step away from poverty. Members who receive loans learn valuable character traits and are asked to give back to the fund according to their ability (perpetual…). I believe that education is the key to opportunity and I am grateful for this inspired program which allows faithful saints all around the world with the ability to gain a better education and in turn, better serve their families, the church, and the community.


What an extraordinary example of discipleship is found in the life of Gordon B. Hinckley. Full of wit and wisdom, faith and determination, President Hinckley tirelessly traveled the world, lifting the saints, building the kingdom and testifying as a special witness of Christ. His example is proof that those who are anxiously engaged in service and righteousness are energized by the Spirit! His example inspires me to be more passionate about bringing souls unto Christ. How lucky we are to have had his influence as a prophet, seer and revelator in our lives!

“I love being among the saints.” –Gordon B. Hinckley

Tim Tam SLAM!

This was just Tuesday night at "Tim Tam Slam" night. Janessa and Abby's host mom went out for the evening, so they checked with Helen to invite a small group of friends over, and I'm pretty sure all 36 students came :) Tim Tams are these amazing chocolate covered cookies they have here. They come in about 20 flavors and taste great with hot Milo or cold milk. A Tim Tam SLAM is when you bite off diagonal corners of the cookie and slurp your drink through the cookie. It moistens the inside flavoring and lets you suck it out :) Anway, It was a lot of fun to get together with everyone. I sometimes get a social overload when everyone is together because it's just so loud and there is so much going on all the time! I seriously had to yell to the person next to me in order to be heard. Ramsey cut his hair but left his mullet. He got a lot of attention for that!

HIGH Ropes Course

Little did I know, this ropes course was GREAT prep for my bungy jump! It looked really intimidating at first, but once I got up onto the tight ropes and trapezes, I just felt right in my comfort zone. I think being in my comfort zone = being out of it! Does that make sense? Well anyway, the first two were tight ropes you had to balance on and then swing down. Pictured below is the pole/trapeze challenge. We had to climb this tall, tall pole and then jump off and try to grap the pole. I was so proud- I got it on my first try! Then I just flailed my legs around before I let go. It was sometimes hard to trust the belayers below...
This was the "vertical playground." We had to follow our ropes in and out of the tires and over wires and everything. There were poles and unstable things and chains to help us up. But really, you had to work with your partner in order to get both of you up. We stepped on each others femers and backs to get through the holes and reach the ball at the top. This one took a LOT of arm strength!

This ladder one FREAKED me out! Now that I think about it, I hated it. It was so scary to run across these uneven wood slats about 70ft. in the air. They were so far apart, and even if you made it, they wouldn't for sure hold you up. You can't see it in this pic, but there is a part that is just cord- no slats where I had to crawl along. It was just terrible.

Service with a SMILE!

About 1/4 of our class/group is taking 3 credits of "Service" class. Basically that means doing recreation oriented service for people in the community. It is normally 50 hours per credit of the class you register for, but since we'll only be here a bit longer, Mark cut the hours, so I only need 100 hours! Still, that is about 15-20 hours a week, which is basically a part time job. Last Saturday we went with Naomi (holding juice in the center) to her sick friend's home where we gardened for almost 6 hours. It was really fulfilling to see the difference, and especially great to help in a way that really makes a difference.

As you can see, we had a lot of fun too! Ben and Brooke are two great kids o this trip. Ben is just so funny, and Brooke is SO enthusiastic! She LIVES for EFY and loves Tim Tams- a "biscuit" (cookie) we discovered here...

Wet Exit!

Kayaking is a BLAST! Today was our third and last day in kayaks, and I feel like a level 10 in confidence! It's pretty scary when you flip in rapids, but you just signal for help and then if you stop breathing, pull the cord and do a "wet exit!" There's basically nothing to it.

Just SAD!

This is when my camera broke. It was a sad SAD day. But a little easier to handle when putting it in perspective. I am happy to now have a fully functioning Canon that is doing a great job! Tyler tried to console me when the "lens error" message kept flashing, but we were both laughing too hard at our losses to help each other feel better. Ty's new watch has broken about 3 times since we've been here. What's the luck... What is the most valuable possession you have lost or broken?

Random tidbits

I was bored of writing a paper, so I decided that this was a pretty good waste of time:

2. Diamonds or pearls? Um I think, both. :) I LOVE my diamond earrings that I have worn every day since 8th grade, but I’ve taken a liking to pearls since China.
4. What is your favorite TV show? MONK and I LOVE Lucy!
5. What do you usually have for breakfast? As of late- Wheat Bix (NZ’s most popular cereal) with Museli sprinkled on top! SOOO good! Oh, and a piece of toast with Nutella
6. What is your middle name? Elise, oh wait, Elyse!
7. What food do you dislike? Spinach, pork rinds, cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise…
8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? Well, I think I would have to go with Selena or Celine Dion. No. JIM BRICKMAN! Or Jon Schmidt.
9. What kind of car do you drive? Mazda Protégé- “Golda” But now, I ride Skebanger my bike. It means “rat chaser” in some African language…
10. Favorite sandwich? TUNA! I love pita bread when it’s cut correctly, and I like basically all the sandwiches in the MOA.
11. What characteristic do you despise? Sarcasm
12. Favorite item of clothing? My green North Face jacket with thumb holes.
13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Umm… that’s a TOUGHIE- I want to go to Jerusalem and Ghana the most, but to vacation, I’d probably say Belize.
14. Favorite brand of clothing? North Face, hands down. But for normal clothes, probably Old Navy. Maybe Aeropostale? 

15. Where would you retire to? Depending on how the elections go, Banff Canada.
17. Favorite sport to watch? Figure skating/Jump Rope/Gymnastics
25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us? Well, I’m planning a craft project involving seashells and I GOT A NEW CAMERA! I’m going to the “Adventure Capital of the World” on Friday!
26. What did you want to be when you were little? A truck-driver, I’m embarrassed to say.
33. What are you listening to right now? Mags turning lights off. She likes to turn lights off and keep the water running for only 1 second at a time.
34. What was the last thing you ate? Peach/Mango yogurt with kiwi and ice cream.
36. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? I don’t know, but that question reminded me that my 3 favorite colors (in order) are: Turquoise, John Deer green and Magenta.
38. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Tyler Crosby. I think? He lives in Otatara… far away… It’s hard not having a cell phone. Sometimes I just hold mine and remember the days when I could actually use it!
39. Favorite soft drink? I don’t like carbonation, but I really like this NZ drink called Ginger Beer.
40. Favorite restaurant? Probably Panera for every day type things, but if it were for a big deal, probably Benihana in downtown Seattle.
41. Hair color? Whatever is NATURAL!
42. What was your favorite toy as a child? I remember really liking the sit n’ spin, but mostly I just caused trouble with Kiersten, the girl next door. Those were the good old days. We liked presenting plays and practicing stunts on the front lawn.
44. Hugs or kisses? Um, I think Both. I don’t really want to get into that right now.
45. Chocolate or Vanilla? I used to prefer Vanilla, but my taste buds have matured. I pretty much pick the chocolate-based ice cream when I have a choice. It has to be quality chocolate though. Hershey’s isn’t worth it…
46. Coffee or tea? Herbal tea for sure. I drink tea about 5 times a day now. My favorite is “five roses” with sugar, and I also love “Red Bush” with hot milk. It’s a South African tea. Tea is SUCH a big deal here in NZ!
49. What is under your bed? All the stuff I have to stash since my room is puny.
50. What did you do last night? I rode my bike to the park at 9:30pm after a BBQ with the neighbors and watched Transformers on the big screen! Then I rode home at midnight past lots of scary guys and shady areas. But good news, Cam and Tyler had bike lights and were there for protection.
51. What are you afraid of? Having regrets.
52. Salty or sweet? Sweet. But my favorite food is popcorn.
53. How many keys on your key ring? Probably about 6. But, I have no responsibility these days, slash, I don’t carry keys, so I can’t really remember.
56. How many towns have you lived in? 4 (Kirkland, Redmond, Provo, Invercargill)
57. Do you make friends easily? I try to think I’m shy, but my friends say I’m really not. They think I'm charismatic. Making friends quickly is kind of out of my comfort zone.

What 3 words do you think best describe me? Be HONEST! No offense taken!

"I haven't got enough hands!"

If you're a true Kiwi, you have "tea" between 3 and 7 times a day. Tea always consists of a hot drink (could be coffee) and is always accompanied by a cake, bread, or snack of the sort. Well, I just assumed that tea was a crucial component of the daily routine when at home, but boy was I wrong! If you're going to be on the road during tea time, you bring the thermos with you. And if you want water or a cold drink, then too bad about ya! You get tea. Mags and her best friend Carol took Ali and me to Riverton, a beach town, on Waitangi day, our day off school. Waitangi day is a big deal here- It is the day the Maori and the European settlers signed an agreement concerning the division of land.

Anyway, we went to about 4-5 beaches and had so much fun walking in the sand, collecting seashells, and climbing big rocks. I am pretty proud of my idea to take a picture showing our "muscles" :) I think I made Mags nervous when I pulled out the rotten paua meat from the shell... she had me wash my hands straightaway.

First, you must understand that Carol is a very independent woman, and very capable. She was born sans a left arm. She can sure use that nub though- it's amazing to watch her balance things, pick up bags, and even tie bows with that little nub. So, once we finished on the first beach, it was time for tea. Once we'd gotten everything out of the back of the car and were all ready to go find a spot to eat on the beach, Carol said the funniest thing! Hurriedly eating her muffin and watching her hot mug balance on the ground she just said, "hold on girls, I haven't got enough hands!" Ali and I couldn't help ourselves from laughing! We (people with 2 hands) usually say that phrase when we're overwhelmed, but to hear her say that was just too funny! We all laughed (I really couldn't help myself) as we packed up for lunch on the beach.

LENS ERROR

This is the view out of my bedroom window! JUST KIDDING! Fooled you :) This is from our day trip to the Catlains. This is one of the last pictures I took before my camera quit responding. "Lens Error" is officially my least favorite notification of all time. But, it really was a great day! This is the same beach where we swam with the dolphins! Lisa and I had a blast doing handstands at every petrol station we stopped at on the 2 week trip. It became tradion to "jump out" and do this full body stretch about once a day. We tried to kick up against walls, or available fences, but sometimes we had to resort to the car. The worst was when the van door started sliding closed and my feet went with it! As the days went on, we upgraded to walking on our hands, doing leg formations, and even vertical push ups!

Stained Glass :)

This was definitely the funniest camp ground ever! Not such a "nice" place, but we were a stone's throw from the beach, and surrounded by RV's like this one :) I look like I fit right in- I get such a kick out of it! We drove in, feeling a little skeptical, but then Julia and I spotted this amazing trailer with a STAINED GLASS door! This was definitely the best RV around! We also played charades at this place, and got some funny things to act out like, "Stripper" which Cameron, a boy, got, and "Mark" our group leader. Boy was that funny! We made friends with some local primary school kids who advised us not to waste money whale watching... This was also hilarious! It's funnier looking back on it, but I think I could appreciate the humor at the time too. During the first two weeks of camping and such, I forgot my belt. So my pants were falling down a lot, especially when I wore these particular pants. Well, Katie Jo decided to take advantage of my loss and give me the HARDEST, the MOST uncomfortable, THE dirtiest weggie EVER! I could go into great detail, but I think I'll just stick with the phrase, "it hurt!" to describe the event. It hurt, and it caught me totally off guard! She had perfect timing! She thought she was so funny, and was just so proud of herself... I'm glad I can be the butt of the joke sometimes too..

Camping :)

Here are some photographic descriptions of camping. Tent stakes are generally overrated...Chacos are basically a life saver :)

And, even an old step is interesting through a camera lens :)

International denchers :)

We had a pretty great day in Christchurch! Just the day following the jumping pillow accident (which now has another picture) we went for a day in town. We hit the "World Buskers Festival" and got to take advantage of extra festivities and street performers :) I was so glad to have kebabs for lunch, and had a little more fun with the orange in my lunch. BG, your denchers have made international appearances! It was so fun to use my peels to make everyone laugh! Though, it's a lot harder to make these withour a knife- just fingers!

As you can see, Christchurch is also home to some beautiful botanical gardens! Our poses aren't so gorgeous, but we tried :) If Ashley would do a little more of the lifting, I wouldn't be in such trouble! We were attempting to get Ali straight above our heads, but that didn't work out so well... There are several pictures in this series, and they're funnier when you see them all together. In the end, we decided just to put Ashley on our shoulders and pose that way. Again, one of my crazy schemes to spice up a picture. My friends are lucky I didn't propose that we, "Be the roses" or something like that... It was fun to just walk around town and explain ourselves whenever someone asked where we're touring from. We're dead giveaways :)

12,404 km away from HOME!

Yes, that's right. It's a whole 12,404 km's to Seattle. The Invercargill branch is the world's most southern Starbucks! Can you believe it? I guess there is no Starbucks on Stewart Island :) Ali and I went to the coffee shop in search of free wifi internet, but ended up reading/sleeping instead. The locals thought we were crazy for taking pictures there, but we were glad to capture the memories of an afternoon at the brewery. I'm enjoying my Christmas present, Catch Me If You Can by Frank Abignale himself, and Ali's pleasure reading is the second book in the Twilight series: New Moon. Once class gets out we have some time in the afternoon to kind of kick around before tea time at 7. Once we get more settled here, I'll be doing volunteer work here in town and have no more time for an afternoon at Starbucks. I'm sure enjoying it while it lasts though!

Cow Chasing :)

Cow chasing is a very fun game. I don't think cows necessarily like humans, so they run away. Cows come in many color varieties: The classic black and white, tan, brown and tan, brown and white, black and brown, all white, and even ALL BLACK! When you walk through a pasture, they kind of stay put unless they feel threatened. When you sneak up on cows, they can always sense your presence and they flee all at once. I have found the most success comes from charging a lone cow from behind. That gives you a little more time to approach before it starts running and there aren't other cows to clue in the victim. It you have any chance of catching, or even petting a cow, you're best bet is to run straight for it as fast as possible. I speak from experience :)

Ward Picnic

We had a pretty great time at the ward BBQ/Welcome picnic Saturday. We played lots of fun group games like gunny sack races, three legged races, an egg toss and lots of other random games people made up. Our egg cracked on me and got all over my arms and hand. But I was lucky not to get it down the shirt or in my hair...

Some of the locals wore these amazing "Troy" shirts from High School Musical. One girl got a stain on it from her ice cream cone (they bought 10 liters of random left over flavors for $10 -- kind of a gamble :) and got all nervous that she had defaced Troy. Her friend suggested that they could just put it in the wash, and the other frantically replied, "But then he would fade!!!" It was fun to get to know the ward members and spend some time with them. My hair is getting pretty long... should I cut it? Dye it? What? Maybe I should get dreads! What do you think?

Tip Top

Ice cream here is THE BEST! Tip Top is definitely the best kind :) We went to the grocery store and just bought a box to all share. In lieu of spoons, we used credit cards, insurance cards, or in my case, AAA cards :) This is actually a very cool picture because the ice cream is just a reflection in the car window! Ashley and I would load our cards up with as much as we could get before the container moved on to the next people. This is in the front seat of the van, where we spent countless hours during the first two weeks. There is a middle seat :)

The Dang Jumping Pillow

The jumping pillow calls to me! The huge, colorful, trampoline-like bouncing structure just screamed FUN when we first arrived in Christchurch. Well, it was FUN, but also very dangerous! It was especially appealing during the torrential downpour :) And especially dangerous... I was lucky to come away with a mere thumb dislocation and foot injury. I knew things had gone array after a slip down one side of the slippery slide. My knee twisted just before I jammed my foot, and then I caught myself with my forefinger/thumb on my left hand.

This is a picture of Becky popping/shoving/pulling my thumb back into place. I'd walked back to our place before I showed Ali my hand. The second she saw it, Ali was like, "That is NOT normal!" That's when I ran for help! Becky told me to go to a doctor since there can be long-term nerve damage from popping it back in... but I told her it's overrated and we'd waste time setting up the appointment and arranging to go in and everything- just for a thumb- honestly! So, I bit Ali's camera case and endured the pain as I felt my thumb return to its original position. But worse than my thumb problem, my foot! After some anatomical study of the foot and ankle, I've discovered that I serioulsy strained the extensor digitorum longus tendon on the top of my foot.

It hurt. Bad. I decided to wait a while to tell you all about so that you wouldn't have to worry. So now, two weeks later, I am almost all the way healed! Now I just have to deal with tenderness where I ride my bike :)