Saturday :)

Last Saturday I was invited by my home teacher to go to the beach with him and some other people.  I was so so grateful for the invite because usually, if I don't have plans, Saturday is kinda stressful in finding something to do.  When I woke up at 7:30 on Saturday, it was thunder and lightning and raining.  I LOVE hearing the thunder when it is very loud and I'm all snug in my bed, but I don't really like it when I have to wake up so early and I'm not able to fully enjoy it.  So I made the drive into Boston which was actually pretty scary because it was truly a cloud burst the entire way.  I swear sometimes it felt like I was hydroplaning.  Luckily I made to my home teacher's apt.  It was still raining but we decided to go.  I drove me, my home teacher named Jason, a married couple named Aerial and Collin, and another girl named Stephanie.  It was only suppose to be about a 45 minute drive, but it ended up being about a 2 1/2 hour drive.  This was because they closed down a chunk of a freeway.  I think they closed it down  because a truck carrying fuel crashed and exploded and there were some houses that caught on fire among other things.  Anyway, we made it to the beach :) it was so fun and so refreshing!  My home teacher had to be back by 4:00 so it was kind of a quick trip in a way.  After dropping him off, I really didn't know what to do with myself, so I decided to go home.  After talking to Elisse and also Mom on the way home, I was given the idea to not go home and go do something like go to the mall... so I did :) It was kind of fun being on my own.  I just walked around the mall.  They have a Cinnabon at the mall and since I have never had a cinnamon role from there, I decided to go for it :) After that, I decided to go see a movie.  The only options were Harry Potter (which I had already seen), Transformers (which I had already seen), some rated R movies, and Winnie the Pooh... So I went to Winnie the Pooh.  About twenty minutes into it, I fell asleep and woke up right as the credits were starting.  I guess i wasn't that into the movie.  Overall, pretty great day :) Below are random pictures from the day.  Sorry there are none from the beach, but I didn't want to take the risk of hurting my phone or dropping it in the sand. :)

This picture probably needs explaining... While being stopped in my car on the way to the beach, we passed this lovely store and I just had to take a picture of the sign because it reminded me of Kapplan :)

And obviously I thought of Auntie Anne when I saw this.

My first Cinnabon :) Very yummy.

Palmyra :)

Last weekend I had the opportunity to go to Palmyra with a group of young single adults.  I was a little nervous going because I didn't know one single person, but I ended up having a blast.  I got up early Friday morning to meet at a church.  After waiting and waiting some more there, we were finally ready to go.  It was a small group of people that went.  The group rented two fifteen passenger ford vans.  I loved it cuz it felt like home taking a road trip in a huge van :)  It took us about six hours to drive to New York.  When we got there we set up camp and went shopping.  For dinner we had tinfoil dinners (definitely not my first choice for food).  Another sad thing about this situation was the food wasn't ready until way after dark and no one really had lanterns or anything, so we were eating in the dark.  My meal had burnt veggies (seriously they were black since they had been in the fire so long) that went crunch crunch when you tried eating them... yummy.  The next day I woke up at 7:30 and I don't know how it happened, but it felt like I had slept in.  I thought it would be crazy hard for me to wake up, since I normally wake up around eleven.  We went to Niagara Falls and it took us about two hours to drive there.  It was very cool to see the falls.  After going to the falls, we went to the Sacred Grove.  It was the most amazing feeling walking through.  My only regret was that I didn't sit down and take it all in.  We walked through it slowly, but then it was over.  We also saw Joseph Smith's house where Moroni appeared to him in his bedroom.  It was so neat to see!  After that we went to the Hill Cumorah Pageant.  I loved it and was so sad when it was over.  It felt so short to me.  I honestly thought it only had lasted about 30 or 45 minutes but it went for an hour and twenty minutes.  On Sunday we went to church in Fayette (where the church was first organized).  It was very neat because after sacrament meeting, we walked through a replica of Peter Whitmer's home.  It was there that the Book of Mormon was translated as well.  When it was time to go home, I was so sad.  I was homesick for gospel related things like church history sites or seeing the missionaries, or reading the scriptures, or conference talks.  Anything gospel related, I wanted it because being around those things I wasn't homesick for the family.  Who knows if that even makes sense, but that's the way I felt.  Overall, it was an amazing trip and I'm so glad I got to go.  :)

This is what I wanted to do! Maid of the Mist!  It looked like so much fun.

Hill Cumorah :)

Disregard the strangers in the picture... I don't know who they are.

Joseph Smith's home.

Palmyra temple :)

Funny story behind this picture.  My goal in going to the pageant was to find a concubine and take a picture with her.  Well this creates a problem since I have no idea what a concubine looks like and there are hundreds of cast members walking around.  Also, I was afraid to ask in the first place!  Totally out of my comfort zone.  After a good number of minutes, I finally went up to a girl.  The first person I asked was in fact a Concubine!  Boy did I get lucky!

Some of the people from the trip :)

This picture doesn't do it justice, but this is the sad result of not using bug spray... 45 bites

Good times :)

Updates :)

 I finally got a cah!  Fyi: I did not spell car incorrectly... that's how they say it in Boston :)  I never thought I'd be the owner of a Volvo, but then again, I never thought I'd be living in Boston either.  Oh well, I guess anything is possible. :)  Now that I have a car, I can do many fun things such as drive into Boston when a friend calls me to hang out on Saturday.   

This is Alexis (she is the relief society president of my ward).  I was so grateful when she called me to hang out one Saturday.

One of the highlights of the day was the Swan Boats ride.  If you are ever in Boston, this is a must do activity.  Even though its a short little ride around the pond, its very relaxing and very fun.

While riding the swan boats you might see things like this as you go by.

Or perhaps see a wedding couple.

or just a little girl playing in the water.  The swan boats are perfect if you are a fan of people watching :)

Along with my new car and hanging with Alexis, I also experienced the 4th of July.  It was a little different this year than usual.  Reed, Mark, Sheryl, and I went and saw Transformers 3.  If you have seen the first or second Transformers, you are not missing out by not watching the third.  It is the exact same!  It was really good and fun to watch, but it was very very long.  They could have easily shortened it into a hour and a half movie.  Also, the new girl they got to replace Megan Fox, was not good.  She wasn't pretty, and she couldn't act.  After the movie, we went home and had a miniature BBQ and then played a game.  It was a different 4th then I'm use to but it was neat experiencing it from a different perspective.  Happy 4th!