We have a new president!

This weekend has been so much fun! I have a lot of pictures to catch up on as Alexis has so kindly reminded me...

my roommates are awesome, we all get along really well and have a blast together, and the other one in the picture is our pet cat who appeared outside our door one day. honestly it scared the crap out of me, like it was going to suck my soul at night or something... we got rid of it though, traded for some yummy pumpkin cookies to these boys who have disposed of it properly [shooting it of course]

ok so we have Jessie- el salvador, Cheri- CA, Chari-CA, Alexis-CA, Emma-CA, and me-east coast represent!

ok my friend Alyson who I met in ukraine and is at school at UVU came up for the long weekend and we had tons of fun. We went snowmobiling with Derek and Kelly and some relatives... it was amazing. We went to the Palacades (sp?) and they were gorgeous! the actual riding is fun but having to steer and turn on those things i did not really enjoy, my muscles ached like crazy for the next couple of days.

oh and our machine overheated and wasn't running correctly but since Derek is a mechanic, he figured out what was wrong and was able to after a little while of fidgeting, figure out the problem and fix it. I learnt to drive and I did a good job until this one turn i didnt slow down enough and well despite dereks attempt to stablize the machine, we fell off got ran over and it ran off into the deep powder hit a tree and got stuck. It really was fun though. oh yeah and bri came too.

AND as a goodbye for now since I am on a roll, here is a lovely picture of Dad from christmas time... credit to leslie.

queen of the mountain

Well today up at Targhee it was GORGEOUS, the sun was shinning, and it wasnt too hot nor cold with a slight wind. Our teacher said its the best day all season. We could see out for miles of the mountains around and the flat valley below, amazing.

I signed up for level 4 and my one hour class has 7 of us. Two girls five guys. the other girl has only been up on the mnt four times ever. and she could keep up with us! mostly. The guys seem like fun, 4 of us stayed together for the rest of the day and hit everything, jumps, powder, tree paths, it was great. I am so worn out though, ill sleep so soundly tonight!

when I got home chari's friend was up here from utah so a bunch of her friends were all invited to craigos so i tagged along. There ended up being like 4 girls from Stafford VA, and they know oliver/ the johnston family. that was pretty exciting.

School has been good so far, lots of studying but fun. Alyson my buddy from ukraine is coming up this weekend so that should be tons of fun. We're going to go snowmachining on saturday which is going to be a blast. I cant wait!

school

I've only been out here for 3 days and I feel quite at home. Everything is going well, my classes are challengingly interesting and I enjoy all the hard work i've already put into them. I've been mainly focusing on my anat/phys class, i really hope i can keep up so it doesnt kick my butt- theres a lot of studying and memorization required.

My Exp Ed/Adv challenge class is going to be so much fun, we meet in a dance room so we have no chairs, a giant mirror and get to take off our shoes and socks each time. I already know a bunch of the other students from previous rec classes too... AND this one girl named Melissa that i know served her mission in Oaklahoma and totally knows cousin Caitlin! She was like you know sister wise? i said, I am sister wise, and yes that one is my cousin! haha it was great.

Mission prep is fun, the guy has a whole lot of energy and is funny but kind of insane at times, im used to that though ;) the class has way more girls than guys which is really funny AND a lot of them are just in it for an easy grade and not actually planning on serving, its not my business though so i wont complain. I like the class because we get to sing 2 hymns at the beginning of every class 1 is always called to serve but the other gets changed up.

Im not sure how developmental psych is going to be, it seems cool well at least the topic does... but we havent done much yet so i bet itll get better.

I am so excited for snowboarding! sara cabrera and i went to the meeting today and i ran into my old roommates from colonial house, Tosha and Rachel who are both snowboarding and are level 4 so we are taking the class together! cool.

at our apartment we dont have wireless :( and our plug in box thing is missing from our room so thats lame... but its ok too because i study a lot better in the library.

today Emma is moving into Mary Washington, i hope it goes well. I'm rooting for you em! actually im about to call you back on my way down to my place for a quick snack before more studying, LAME.

oh nine!

Well new years was pretty great, Emma and I went down to richmond and got to celebrate with basically all my virginia friends that i never get to see so that was nice. I made my resolutions back in ukraine durring october, posture and patience so i've been working on those for a while. It was nice to see so many people Ive hung out with over the years all together in the same general spot. its weird to think that its 09 alreayd, i mean i was supposed to be graduating college by 10 but according to my plans itll still be at leats 3 more years to get my bs degree but its all good, they will be very effective and benificial years. ive thought it was saturday all day today but soon it actually will be so i wont be thrown off anymore. oh! my friend travis wears suspenders just like me, we were sooo happy to both be wearing them. AND my friend daniel has picked up the harmonica too so we jammed some. I really like them all and am sad i rarely have time to see people since im always gone but im glad i enjoy the time i do get.
i feel i have completely adjusted to life here and that ukraine really is just a memory but now i will be leaving again in a couple days to head back out to school which will take another whole reality switch on me and i have to change to student mode again. it wont take much time at all though, i am generally good at adapting.

readjusting to life

Well being home has been fun. My family is crazy as ever and i love it so much. Last week there was a Ukrainian christmas performance at the temple visitor center! It was so great to hear people speaking ukrainian again, and the costumes were quite a hoot. The lights were up as always for christmas season and the temple was spectacular. [I get to go with the youth to do baptisms after christmas :) i cant wait]

We've been busy getting the lasts of shopping and baking done. I love this time of year, my mom makes so many delicious goodies. Peanut butter cups, pepermint cups, fudge with or without nuts, chex mix, chocolate cookies with christmas red green and white chocolate chips, oatmeal craison chocolate chip, sticky popcorn. Its fabulous.

I'm starting to make the rounds and visit all the people here in VA that I need to see before heading back off to idaho for school [which i am so excited about because of snowboarding and living with my best friend Chari]
I am always happy with how many people there are who really care and want to keep in touch, its a good habit to have.

Its nice to be driving again, I love driving its very soothing for me. Although I did love walking and metroing everywhere in Ukraine, great exersize and rather enjoyable and good people watching of course.

Im pretty sure ive adapted back here already unfortunately. I wish i could go back to ukraine for a little but that was a part of my life that has passed and now I need to move on and keep working hard and alertly living life.

oh and my mom, sisters and I got pedicures. all red [for christmas] and we got cute designs on our big toe, they got snowflakes and i got a snowman, they are all so cute.

home again home again lickety split

Well I made it back to the USA! i left my6 host familys house in ukraine 3AM on wednesday morning and I got back to the house at 630pm -just in time for dinner :) mmm

Its taken a bit of readjusting to things here but everything seems pretty much the same except for minor things here and there. There are so many things i have noticed and appreciate; nice toilet paper, spicy/flavorful food, family, understanding people, driving, internet, stand up showers... the list can go on for a while but being back here im back into the busy rush and fast paced life. Im putting pics up on my facebook since we got wifi!

I really miss ukraine and all that I got to learn and experience there. what an amazing culture i got to get to know, im so grateful I recieved such a great oprotunity in my life.

Its crazy how little time I've got left out here, its already the last thursday!
Yesterday we went to the opera, some Masquerade thing. it was beautiful. and friday is our performance that weve been practicing with the kids for weeks, they'll be doing a lot of christmas songs and are going to be so cute. Even the 4 year olds have the words down.
I hope to write again once more before heading home but who knows how time will go. I sure love it here though!
On saturday night were going to a discoclub place. and tonight we discovered a university place that plays english movies on thursdays and tonnights is Its A Wonderful Life! - thats right, thats right.

Im off to teach, love ya!