Last days in the burg

Well, I am leaving this Saturday (tomorrow) to start my journey back to Provo, Utah! I've had a great summer, but it's time to leave Ohio. I have been dying to go for a while now, but I was sitting on the couch the other day watching Oprah (my favorite) and I started realizing that this is probably my last time to actually live at home. I have so many plans to travel and do crazy things, and other than my holiday breaks, I really won't be around much. I'm not going to lie.. I kind of got a little sad. I will miss my family A TON once I go back out there, but I know they can't live without their favorite child and sister for too long, so they'll be out to visit! :) Here are some pictures from my last few days here in good old Perrysburg.

NOTE: If you notice some weird stuff going on with my mom's eyes, it's because she got surgery on them last week. It was pretty nasty looking the first few days... if you want to see pictures, I'll post them. I just don't want to scar everyone for life! Please comment!

Feeding the ducks!

So this new family just moved into our ward this week and they called yesterday to see if I could babysit tonight so they could go out to dinner. Since I have basically no life now, I said I could! No regrets! Let me tell you... I fell in love with these kids. They were seriously adorable and I am SO sad that I'm leaving next weekend for school and I don't get to spend more time with them! Caleb is 1 1/2, Dallin is 4 1/2, and Leah is 6. Leah is starting a new business with her "leaf warmers" (a.k.a. two leaves with the stems tied together). They are only 10 cents and quite fashionable decor -- I highly recommend them ;) I purchased two of my own... take a look at the pictures.. she has a whole box full! We had so much fun riding bikes around, stopping at the pool to "dip our toes in," and feeding the ducks! I swear every duck in the pond surrounded us.. and they were huge fans of Dallin since he still had bread left! Enjoy the pictures from my wonderful Friday night!

Rasmussen Choro Update!

Here are some pictures I stole from his sister Jenn (thank you!!) that she took when they dropped him off in the MTC. Yesterday JD hit his one month mark! It's weird... it went by really fast, but at the same time, it seems like he left forever ago. So much has happened since then! I got a letter from him this weekend and he is still doing great! It seems like his Japanese is really coming along, which is great! The older guys in his zone leave for Japan this week. In his letter last week, he made me laugh when he said seeing them get ready to go to Japan gives him hope that people do actually leave the MTC! J's also been called to serve as the new Zone leader with his companion once the older guys head out. He really is doing so great and I am so proud of him. He's such a good example and such a hard worker with an enormous amount of faith.

For any of you who know me fairly well, JD has pretty much been my life since last October. Because of that, I find myself talking about him and telling stories about things that happened with us A LOT. So many things remind me of him, and to all of you who have had to deal with that... thank you! I know it's probably pretty obnoxious after a while, but it's kind of how I deal :) What's even more fun than telling stories about him though, is hearing them! I love getting his letters and reading about everything that is happening, but it's also fun hearing things from other people! Today I was on the phone with my aunt who has two little fou-year old twin girls. They live pretty close to Provo so JD got to hang out with them every once in a while...they loved to give him a hard time! Anyway, while I was talking to her, she was telling me how there was a tall, blonde boy riding his bike by their house. The girls saw him and asked their mom who it was. She told them his name, and they said they thought he looked like JD! I thought it was cute that they still even remembered what JD looked like since it's been almost five months since they've seen him! Anyway, just a fun little story that I enjoyed hearing! If you ever have any, let me know! I love hearing them! :)

Just kidding!

Well, turns out my goodbyes to my friends weren't really until this past Sunday morning. Amelia and Jenni talked me into asking my parents if I could go with them to Charleston on Wednesday-- and to my surprise, my parents said yes! So I went to Charleston for about 4 days. It was great to see where the two of them go to school, see their new house, and meet their friends! Here are a few pictures from the trip... the first one is just of me and my two best friends before we went to dinner at a cute little Irish place downtown. The second is of Claire and I at Folly Beach in Charleston. The third is just of Claire, Amelia, and me after dinner one night on King Street. The fourth is of Jenni and I in her NEW bedroom! I wish you could see the whole room...it looks so good! And the last one is of Emma (their friend at school I got to meet!), Amelia, and me at dinner on the last night there. It was a great time and I'm so glad I got to go! I figure I owe it to them since Amelia's been to Utah twice now, and Jenn's been there three times! Maybe I'll even make it out there again sometime during the school year.... if they're lucky! ;)