Dear Tonsils,

Not mine.  Sara's.  That's right... my darling Sara is getting her tonsils removed tomorrow.  She's definitely partying it up the night before though.  I am incredibly jealous of her.  She is at the John Mayer concert in AZ!  She deserves it though... tomorrow will not be fun :(  

So Sara, I love you!  You will do just great! 

Dear Relaxation,

    I've had a little bit too much of you lately.  

My life is starting to get a little TOO relaxed.  I really have no plans...and even if I wanted to have them, it wouldn't matter because I don't have a car.  Marvelous.  I think my summer was a little bit too jam-packed to come to a hault like this.  Oh well.  In a week and a half I'll be off to Nauvoo getting ready for one more swing at EFY for the summer, which incase I haven't mentioned 65 times before this, I am completely STOKED for... and then a few days after that I will be off to Provo.  I am missing my friends there way too much! 

The thing is about life right now, is that after 7pm, things are on fire.  The family is all home and we at least do something entertaining.  For instance, tonight we had the elder's over, stopped by Kinko's and Ann Taylor Loft with my mom, then met up with the boys and visited a lady from our ward who is at Hospice and also managed to find some time to swing by Costco.  That, ladies and gentlemen is what I mean when I say "things are on fire." 

And as much as I love waking up every morning waiting to see what Tyra is going to teach me about that day, reading a book, catching some rays, doing pilates, and then ending my afternoon with Oprah... the madness has got to stop.  

I need to get to bed now though because tomorrow HOWEVER, I DO have plans.  I am waking up at 7:30 am to get ready to go to my sister's cheer competition since no one else can attend.  I seem like I'm complaining, but I'm not.  Truly, I'm excited...because one, I'm getting out of the house.  And two, let's be honest... I will love cheerleading competitions until the day I die... and I am not ashamed. 

...can you tell I miss EFY?  

Dear Summer Reading,

Books, books, books.  I love them!  The only problem is, I never have time to read them!  Since I have about two weeks left before EFY Nauvoo, I'm going to try and get as much reading in as possible.  Yesterday I read "Tuesdays with Morrie."  It was so good... I love Mitch Albom and I couldn't believe I had never gotten around to reading that book of his.  It was a quick read and I'm not going to lie... got me a little teared up.  

We have a whole library of books here, so I've picked out a couple.  My next three are church books, and then I'm going to try and squeeze a John Grisham in there also.  

1) Believing Christ - Stephen E. Robinson

2) If Life Were Easy, It Wouldn't Be Hard - Sheri Dew

3) Teaching by the Spirit - Gene R. Cook

Any suggestions for non-church books?  Let me know!  I want to get in all that I can!  Oh and while I'm looking for suggestions, I've been doing some work out dvd's (I found a pilates one I LOVE)... does anyone have any recommendations for awesome work outs?

Dear Best Journal Ever Purchased,

Okay so if you dug up any of my old journals, you would notice that there are gaps - sometimes years long - between my entries.  Pathetic, I know.  I decided I am the world's worst journal writer.  HOWEVER, that is all about to change.  My dear friend Sara introduced me to the world's best journal ever.  I've been going strong for nearly a month and I don't think it's about to die down anytime soon.  It's such a quaint little notebook and I absolutely LOVE it!  You can find them at Barnes & Noble.  They're called Moleskines and are under $20.  They have lots of different options and versions and come in black and red.  I bought a black one for my normal journal, and a red one for my "thankful journal."  Dani gave me this idea for the "thankful journal."  Each day you just write the date and then 5 things that you were grateful for that day.  It's such a cute idea and I think it makes me a lot more aware and appreciative.  

Anyway, I am so motivated to become a good journal writer, once and for all!  

Dear Cusco Scenery,

This was the house Dani and I lived in with our Peruvian family.  

This is a church that was made by the Spaniards called Coricancha.  It's beautiful!  

This is a sweet little plaza that you can find to the side of the Plaza de Armas.

In Santo Domingo, a village we visited to install windows for their school.

Plaza de Armas, other than the orphanage, our favorite place to go!  

One of the buildings on Avenida Sol

Our kitchen at our house.

The other half of Coricancha.  

In the mountains of Cusco.

Makes our house look like a palace. 

The hills are alive in the sound of music.  

Just like any city, it has its gorgeous parts, and its impoverished areas.  Overall, I love the city of Cusco and absolutely enjoyed every second of my stay.  

Dear Pre Orfanato Adventures,

In Lima with our host mom, Maritza!  

Traveling in our boat down the Amazon River!

He needed a haircut.  

Parrots, parrots everywhere.

  

On our trek through the dirty jungle.  

Fishing.  I'd say the first hour I had pretty bad luck.  BUT, hora numero dos rocked!

Ash and me in Lima, Peru!  

As I've mentioned about 57 times in this blog, I went to Peru. Before we actually started our work in the orphanage, we spent a week traveling. We went to Lima for 3 days and then Iquitos (The Amazon) for 4 days. Here a couple pictures from our adventures there!

Dear Home of the Brave,

Well... after not posting for 3 months, I am BACK! (The above picture is the sign that was hanging when we pulled up into Ash's driveway)

I'll put up pictures asap, but for now... I am alive, home, and bettered by my experience in Peru. It was incredible and I wouldn't change it for the world. I'm hoping to travel back in May for just a month this time and be with my kiddos again. They're some of the best kids I know and I love them dearly.

I'm loving life back at home as well. I just finished up two weeks of EFY and have one more left in Nauvoo. Basically, my summer has been AMAZING. I've had such awesome opportunities and have been so blessed lately.

LIFE IS GOOD!