Dear Blessings,

I have so many of you lately! 

I am so blessed.  Really, I am one lucky lady.  I was looking at pictures from this summer: Peru, EFY, and my time spent with family and friends and I was once again reminded of how great my life is and really, has always been.  Such amazing opportunities seem to fall into my lap quite frequently and I am grateful for the lessons I'm able to learn from each of them.

This is me giddy and gay-faced about how happy life is making me these days:

Life isn't perfect, but it's close enough.  Things are just peachy-keen and I have no complaints. 

So blessings, you're more than welcome to keep pouring down. 

Dear Spanish Tutor,

I need you badly. 

As some of you know, I'm going back to Peru in May!  Woo woo!  I'll be doing the same thing, with the same kids, same place, yada yada.  Last summer I went for 10 weeks, but this time I'll only be going for just the month of May because my brother graduates in June so I need to make it back in time for that, and then EFY will start once again.  SO, I will be returning to Cusco, but for a shorter amount of time.  I couldn't be more excited though!  AND, this time I'm much better prepared.  I just found out yesterday that I'll be getting a Spanish tutor.  The professor set everything up...and lucky for me, I already know him!  He is from Lima, Peru and is a freshman this year at BYU.  I met him when we first got to Peru in April.  He is such a doll and I am so excited to finally become fluent!  

(That's just a picture of me and him in Lima my first day in Peru!) 

Dear hermanos de Peru.

One of our last days there with the boys :( ...we had them put their hand prints all over our shirts! 

This boy may have been one of the reasons I was supposed to go to Peru. 

They thought the guessing game was so much fun! 

Sweet little Armando.  I have a great video of him singing a song in Catchuwa that is too cute. 

Alberto!  He's a wild child and I love it!

Shoes, shoes, shoes.  They got a little out of control with the paint that day. 

Installing windows in a school... I cut my finger open that day.  I've got the battle wound to prove it! 

Just thought they would show off my non-washed, root infested, hair! 

A city outside of the Amazon.

One of the boys took this picture.  Such good photography skills! 

Mi hermano de Peru.  (My Peruvian brother).

Bernie!

Maxi, Alberto, and I watching movies on my camera

Luis!!  I love this boy! 

Putting the little kiddos to sleep during movie night. 

"Momma, momma!"  

I love my little brothers.

Maxi and I on one of my last days there.  

Taking Floix out for his birthday dinner one night (after I gave him his present).  

We just found out Efrain got adopted by a family in Argentina! 

These boys had me whipped! 

I miss these boys so much and think about them everyday.  I can't wait to go back in May and see them again!  They really did change me for the better and I am so blessed to have had this opportunity.  I thought I was the one going there to serve, but I couldn't have been more wrong.  I learned so much about life, people, and myself from those boys and I cannot thank them enough for the lessons they taught me.  

...so to my little Peruvian brothers, I miss you and love each one of you crazy guys! 

Dear family ties,

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my family.  I sure got lucky.  They are absolutely fabulous.  My mom and dad came down last week and it was so much fun being with them!  After Peru, I will never take them for granted again.  I love each one of them and miss them dearly.  

Aust and me!  

The Siblings. 

Dad had to take the picture...so he missed this photo :( 

Dad and me at the UCLA vs. BYU game! 

Mom and me in Ohio.

Lexi and I reminiscing over Nancy Drew books... ohh, the days.

Thank goodness families are forever. 

Dear Forever,

...because it has been forever.  And for those of you who are wondering, although I have been slacking on the blogging, I have kept up with journaling and my thankful journal!  Woo!  Lots has happened since July (shocking, eh!) but I'll sum up my time here in Provo these last few weeks with some pictures!  

Rach and me SEARCHING for my EFY Reunion.  Who even knows where Kiwanis Park is, anyway?  Oh wait.  Apparently EVERYONE but us.  So...we made a photo shoot out of it.  

We woke up at the crack of dawn to get AMAZING seats at Regional Stake Conference with Uchtdorf and Packer.  Woot woot.  

Mom took all of us out to dinner at Macaroni Grill while she was here visiting.  Yum!

Me and Rachie...again!  Cousin LOVE.  And lots of it. 

The ladies with Brad (a.k.a. Diva) 

FINALLY!  We have Spoon Me in Provo!  Best thing ever.  

The Cheetahs and Panthers Forever.  

First football game of the season.  3-0 so far!  Go cougs! 

Love my friends.  

...and, life is good.   

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.