Snowboarding is one of my favorite things.
I reach a state of FLOW when snowboarding.
Factors that must exist to determine flow include: distorted sense of time, complete concentration, a loss of self-consciousness, direct feedback, balance of ability and challenge, personal control, intrinsically rewarding, lack of awareness of bodily needs, absorption into activity, clear goals.

It amazes me each time I go out again just how much it effects me. [And i get to go at least weekly, if not more if I get the chance thanks to my season pass!] I love and need it. All my worries and stresses and problems just cease for the time I'm gone. I don't even have to consciously push them to the back of my mind, they just go there.

Happy 4th!

I guess I should mention that i'm home now! I got back in February...
I am so happy that today is Independence Day! I am wearing my favorite new dress, its white with blue stripes and has a pocket and a string tie belt and some bronze buttons for decoration. Usually it is my Nautical dress but today it is Patriotic! God Bless America!
Don't get me wrong, Russia was awesome and it has a place in my heart, but I sure love the good ol'e USofA. What a great nation we have, that was built on so many crucial principles.
Today is the perfect day, sunny in the sun but nice in the shade with a cool breeze, sometimes rexburg nails the weather. its great. Its nice to live across the street from the park because i just went down the street and got to watch the parade and then be in the park where everyone gathered with booths and set ups lounging around all day people watching, eating kettle corn and fries while listening to a Jazz band, and then some two guys on Manadlin and guitar [with harmonica]. time to go home, and i'm practically there already! Whats also nice is that everyone has left the house [usually 8 girls] and its just me [and Phuong but she just sits in her room doing hw a lot, i did get her out to the parade stuff and took her to get fireworks, she declared it to be the greatest day of the semester] but its nice cause i cleaned everything so its still clean cause no one is here AND ive moved all the furniture and put the soundsystem in the living room and ive been skateboarding and dancing and playing Donkey Kong in there and its just so open and nice. ah this it the life. but soon people will return and school will beckon again..
I made a great America playlist today and it makes me so happy [including American Girl- tom petty, American Woman- the guess who, US Blues- grateful dead, Fortunate Son- CCR, The Way I Was Made- griffin house, and many many others]. oh, AND there was a red t-top 73 stingray in the parade. yeah.

sunshine state

I'm down in Florida and it is fantastic. I don't want to leave. I wish I could retire already. This is the life for me, except for everyone around me being old... they all talk about their health and whats going on with all the people who are slowly dieing around them. It's quite sad. But as grandmama always informs me, its life, you get old and you die. and thats what happens when you have friends who are old, your friends die.
Sorry, something more cheerful... Their house is awesome. It looks like there is a pool in the living room, kinda.

the sun is constantly bright and shining. I can sit all day and read my book or watch NCIS which seems to always be on here. and if i get hot, i just jumpin the pool for a second. ok, more than a second. being underwater is one of my favorite things. i like to sink down and just sit on the bottom of the pool and watch the water, and how the sunlight dances around through the water. it fascinates me. i wish i didn't have to interrupt it by breathing so often.

I don't swim all that well. mom made us be on the swim team in elementary school for at least one summer. i dreaded it. i do not have technique. i can't seem to breathe while doing freestyle without getting my mouth filled with water. breaststroke was more fun, being underwater and all, but i seemed to always get disqualified... poor form or something. we always called mk the dolphin swimmer. she swims like a dolphin, just glides through the water like them. its the best way to swim, hands down.

I don't want to go home tomorrow. I'm not ready. i want to relax more. i told myself that i'd analyze my mission when i was down here, but instead i just want to escape into the beauty of being here.
This is the life.

Mission

I'm leaving today for the MTC which i'll enter tomorrow. I'm going off on my mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to Russsia, St. Petersburg.

You can write me on dearelder.com or send me a letter at the MTC until mid November when i'll be in Russia.

Sister Elizabeth Anne Wise
Russia St. Petersburg Mission
Provo Missionary Training Center box # [i dont know yet]
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604

I am sad to be leaving my family for so long but am so excited for the adventure that is ahead.

love beth

summer so far

Being home is nice, I spend my days doing errands with mom and John comes along sometimes too. I don't feel like I have downtime like I was hoping for but we get stuff done and I have read two books for fun already and thats nice.

John and I hiked the Billy Goat Trail last week...

and it was Mary Kates birthday...

and Daves is today. Yesterday we picked him up from scout camp where he's been working for a couple months...

and we went on a hike...

I got some new skirts and my favorite one is the only one i can't take on my mission with me. lame. but its ok, emma will take care of it.

I had raspberries on my cereal this morning mmmm.

I've been very emotional lately.

18 months is a long time. thats like going through the whole baby thing twice, not that I know what that feels like but timewise it works.

stressing stressing stressing out. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

HARRY POTTER HARRY POTTER HARRY POTTER

HARRY POTTER VI COMES OUT TONIGHT!!!!! [the half blood prince]

and in honor, please watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx1XIm6q4r4

SISTER WISE!

I got my call on Thursday this past week, the 11th. What is awesome is that when I wrote the previous entry about being anxiously waiting...that was the day they did it all! how awesome?!

So, I'm headed to the Russia St. Petersburg mission! and am soooo excited!!!

"Have you heard? Theres a rumor in St. Petersburg! Have you heard? Sister Wise is preaching through the streets!"

I report to the MTC on August 26th [which is the same day I left for Ukraine last summer] Ukraine has prepared me a lot for this call, I wont have culture shock, I know I love Borsch and some foood, I love tea. haha its great! and I know a little russian, I can read and write in it, i just dont understand much. But thats what the MTC is for.

When I got my call I was sooo excited and freaking out and just shaking. The spirit was so strong. It was a beautiful moment to have so many people who care about me there, even my family through skype :)

So now afterwards I have this awesome little speech I wish I'd said but at the time I was just too excited and anxious and only said like three things. BUT it goes like this: On Tuesday we had a devo with Pres. Eyring and he talked about how the climbs that God gives us aren't meant for us to climb alone. [And then I'd add] that all you have been with me on this climb and I am so grateful for the help and company because you were needed. And now its time to move on to another climb. I love you all.

something like that. oh well. whoever goes on here will get to hear it now.

I am so happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

but now I have to study for my Physiology Exam on Respiration and Digestion. ahhhhhh

waiting

I'm really anxious and just waiting to hear about my call... If it comes this week I doubt I'll be able to get any homework done so im trying to do some ahead of time but I really cant concentrate. I need to just put it out of my mind and not concentrate on it when I dont have any control over it. but i cant help it ahhhh. my stomach is constantly jumpy and floping around. oy oy oy. I dont like the unknown. Im a planner, i like to be on top of things and see them out how theyre going to go. ive gone over the moment of it coming a thousand and two times in my head. always slightly different, tweeking it here and there. but it wont go that way. it will come completely unexpected and throw me out of thought. I dont know if i'll be able to open the envelope ill be so shakey with excitement and anxiety and ahhh. this week is sooo long. and it might not even get here till next week, or the next one. i have no idea.

Exhausted!

I just had my first mountain biking class -yes I get credit for going mountain biking. It was awesome, yes very hard and a lot of uphill, I even had to get off and walk up once BUT I made it on most parts. Wow, and the place we went had a gorgeous view. And Im making a really good friend in the class, she is just purely wonderful, we get along really well. I got all nice and sweaty and muddy and there were COWS! ahh they frightened me so much, I was just zipping down this one hill and there it was right around the corner. It was def scared but I think me moreso haha. And now im home and showered and clean and the soreness is just begining to set in... my butt hurts, I'm going to have to get some of those fancy padded butt biking shorts. Oh and gloves cause my hands are getting raw. I really look forward to every friday now. Supreme!

Also, I LOVE MARY KATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She made a giant map and put it up on the wall labeling all the places that everyone is guessing I will serve for my mission. She is the BEST. I am so happy, I can't stop grinning.

AND i've had two midterms this week, and was first completed with BOTH of them [in class] and they both seemed oddly easy. I guess Im improving on my study skills, sweet.

Neko Case was FANTASTIC! I loved it. She has a great stage presence and was hilarious. And shes beautiful and her voice, wow, very powerful. She played most of my favorite songs and
emmas favorite, star witness, was in the encore.

yesterday I shot hoops for an hour and half so that was really relaxing and haha I can feel slight arm muscles starting to form.

I got out of class at 10 and now its a super long weekend until wednesday! crazy. hopefully I'll find other people who stayed up here in the nothingness of Rexburg and make friends. I do have a TON of homework to do so thatll consume a lot of time. And its gorgeous out so ill cruise around on my bike some. Too bad dads not going to be in utah anymore or id have caught a ride down and seen him, oh well. I'll be down there next weekend for Neko Case- im sooooo excited!

So in my leadership class our homework assignment is to run the bleechers twice, ahhhh. and he said each set should take 4 minutes. oy!

Oh, i bet ill have time to play bananagrams this weekend! hooray. and set and all sorts of games. thats exciting. So i've been flying kites with Kelli everynight when the sun goes down. We lay in the grassy field and just fly them for an hour or so as a wind down for the day. It was fun because we would swoop down and try to cut each others string with our kite and actually succeeded twice, mad skills.

In meditation we learnt about this concept of SHENPA and its really neat. shenpa is when something consumes you and you obsess and freak and the natural human instinct is angst and be nervous and fearful and upset. Instead we should just step back and breathe and even meditate a minute to calm down and look at the situation and instead of jumping right to angst about the situation to realize there isnt much of anything we can do and to let the light of christ work in us and overcome the urge to panic and worry and have shenpa.

My plan for the weekend is to find a barbque to attend on monday.

I am jealous of all you back home who get to see all the motorcycles everywhere for Rolling Thunder. And of everyone who's going to the free wolf trap memorial day concert.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend Everybody!

Well its been a stress filled week but i'm holding on. I was informed today that there is a tunnel system under the sidewalks and you can get into it through a room in the basement of one of the buildings. I cant wait to explore!

And something else cool, I was walking through the parking lot after checking on my mission papers from the health center and this guy was walking too and holding a box of pizza and gave me a slice of his pepperoni pizza! it was awesome and inspired.

Oh! and in my D+C class I did a little powerpoint presentation on the phrase 'song of the righteous' and talked about music and worshiping through music. So the exciting part is, I played my harmonica in front of the class. I played sweet hour of prayer and it was pretty cool. I know because people told me, haha.

AND i had a study session for my program mgmt class and the only other person who showed up was this cute witty guy. It was fun.

I took my first physiology exam and got a B! an 86, solid.

Asside from massive wind storms, up to 60 mph and our power getting knocked out, nothing much is happening. and haha obviously its back on now...

and we've been having a desperate housewives marathon -my roommate has all 4 seasons!

I am going to help start Rexburgs first official series of Farmers Markets. Awesome huh?

It rained, snowed, hailed, fogged, and was sunny today. ahhhhhh. At least I have an umbrella ella ella a a a

So the first week is finished already! And the weather hasnt been terrible, maybe it'll really be summer term... who knows. I really enjoy all of my classes, they're fun and my teachers are great but I still feel overwhelmed by so much work. Hopefully I can stay on top of it all. I really like my apartment and having my own room is helping me get more work done. And my roommates are great as well. Kara from Idaho falls, Kristie from CA, Megan from WA and Kelli from TX. We went and saw Obsessed last night, it was intense and we were freaked out for a bit. Beyonce was in it and kicked butt!
Today I'm filling out parts of my mission papers!!! and then am going to do a ton of hw and go for a bike ride. yup, thats my whole plan. Hopefully it follows suit and any other activity is welcome.
AND i love the Neko Case cd I got last week, its fabulous. Hopefully I'll make it down to the concert in May, that would be awesome.
I need new brown sandals for church or just to go with my brown dresses.

For mom: the picture I put up in my mission papers.

Happy Earth Day

Today is Earth Day AND Dereks birthday so i'm going to celebrate both by eating ice cream and by the train tracks. AND i can play happy birthday day on the harmoncia...

easter time is the time for the eggs and the time for the eggs is the easter time

Easter was yesterday and it was lovely. It was great to be reunited with everyone. And the food was delicious and emma and dad made this pie that was to die for: raspberry and pear, HEAVENLY. and we had chocolate galore of course. I love easter.

Today I'm down visiting emma in Fredericksburg. We sat on a dock by the river for a while which was nice and peaceful. I love how well we can read each other, interperate actions and know how we'd respond to certain things. Its reassuring to have a deep connection with another person and to know itll always be there no matter how long we're apart. Sitting on the dock was so pleasant and dangling our legs was a rhythmic peacefulness. AND down the river in the distance there was a bridge and a couple of trains went by when we were sitting there. It was very nice.

We're going to get ice cream right now because Emma just found out that the project she was working on isnt actually due until thursday, hooray! what a great way to announce the fleeing of stress.

I woke up this morning and as I lay in my bed slowly registering the day, I heard a sound I almost couldnt recognize, this melodic yet strangely obnoxious sound. As I came to I realized it was birds chirping -the sign of a beautiful spring day! Then coming home from church there was a nice white surprise flying through the air. of course we got a crazy blizzard of snow. I cant believe it snowed today, it started off so nice. well at least its still march so that counts as wintertime.

Lets see...not too much is going on, im just super busy with school work. We went up to my fhe brothers cabin a couple weekends ago so that was pretty. I love being in the middle of nowhere seeing the stars so distinctly. I swear there were even more than they have in the planitarium!

My roommates made a little under one thousand cup cakes today and beautifuly frosted each one individually like MK always does. oh, my nail just broke -thats pretty lame. I've been practicing my harmonica a lot so when I get home you'll be blown away by my newly acquired musical abilities.

oh and I appreciate everyone for letting me interview them, it was great to catch up and I can't wait to see you all at eastertime!

karalee teaching for ex/ed