Ughhhhhh

....almost done....
........1 more week....
............is one week too many....
 

Be still, my heart...

be brave...

Don't fail me now.

Karen

Hold on, Karen! Only one week left!!

My Best Fwiend (Say it in a Mater tone of voice)

My best friend (click here) 

 My heart melts every time I think about you. And reading your letters bring me so much joy and comfort. I really, truly, love you. I have two awesome things to tell you in the letter I'll write to you today. I love you so much! Thank you for being support that I can count on. You mean a lot to me. And that's an understatement :)

--Elder Reeves

My best friend is this one guy that's currently in Indiana.

He has green eyes, reddish hair, and glasses that he hates. He wears gray t-shirts and shorts, even in the chilling winter. He helps his mom, who is almost blind, get her groceries from Costco every Saturday, even though the only place he dislikes more than Costco is the mall. He's kind and patient with everyone, including this one excitable, energetic, blond girl in Lindon who has ADD. He's quick and clever with his humor, always saying the punch line in the exactly right place that catches you off guard and cracks you up. He gets excited by little things, like the beauty of Provo canyon and fresh snow in the winter. He's calm, steady, and willing to work for his education and his mission. He paid for both all by himself, over $10,000 that he worked and earned and saved patiently. When you tell him things, he focuses entirely on you, nods and asks questions. He has a mild pigeon chest, which means that cartilage makes one of his ribs poke up higher than the other. It's cute.

He's not perfect. I'm not perfect, and I hate it when people say I am. I hear people say all the time that they found "Mr. Perfect" or "Mr. Right". My best friend's not perfect. He's shy. He's scared to talk sometimes because he's scared he'll say the wrong thing. He misspells things occasionally and he can be a picky eater. He's hard on himself sometimes.

But he's so good. He reaches out to people, even though he's shy. He reached out to an energetic blond girl who was struggling and felt so alone in July 2012. He was terrified of girls, and they were hardly more than acquaintances. But he did it anyways because he knew she needed a friend. He's strong. He's confident. He doesn't care about what the world has to say. He sees the best in everyone and never says anything critical of another. He's dedicated to serving, loving, and teaching about the Lord. I want to treat people the way he treats others.

I want to be like him. 

His faith is powerful. He knows the gospel is true.

Karen

Time to Spare

So.
Last Thursday, I crashed on my longboard.
Hit my head.
And have now had a concussion for a week.
Yes, I'm fine.
Yes, I was wearing my helmet.
It's better than being sick, because everyone and their dog bring me goodies! Thanks, friends!

Well.

Doctor's orders: do not think. What? Has he ever tried "not thinking"?

Last night, I was very tired of watching TV, so I made Elder Sok.

  

This took a lot longer than you might think

And mailed it to my bestest buddy in Indiana.

This is why Jake and I are friends: I can send him stuff like this just 'cause, without any explanation, and he loves it.

If you're asking "why" right now, you're totally missing the point. It's definitely more of a "why not?"

Cheers!

Karen

Why is My Job Better than Yours?

Because I get to ride a segway

through fields of tulips

and you don't.

Be jealous.

Guess what?

I'm at work.

I'm at the Children's Garden instead of the main Gardens.

So I'm all alone inside a little shack with no coworkers.

And it's raining.

So nobody's here.

I've been getting paid, for the last four hours, to

study

snapchat

and browse blogs. 

No, I'm not slacking, you can do what you want when no one's around.

...even that gets old.

Well, I made a wild dash from my shack and the long line of anxious people demanding my attention (see the sarcasm there?) for the bathroom. Had to go.

On my way out, I stopped.

And saw this guy

The children's garden has a huge fountain in the middle. When it's on, you can splash in all the water and stuff. It's of Noah's Ark, and there are plenty of bronze animals emerging from an ark. Like this rhino, for instance, that stands only a tantalizing five feet from the ground. 

You're not allowed to climb on them.

At all.

I've been dying to my entire life. But, my parents are the kind of good people who keep their young children from ruining art by climbing on them.

In the deserted park, my fingers chilled from cold and rain sprinkling on me lightly, I returned this rhino's stoic gaze.

And thought,

"If not now, when?"

I quickly scrambled up the rocks and atop the rhino.

My legs straddling him, I raised my hand and whirled it like I was throwing a lasso.

...then I ran off.

                                

                                           ....and stopped.

....and saw the very tip top of the ark, where two giraffe's hung their heads proudly.

And thought,

"If not now, when?"

So so so SOOOO...

...ridiculously excited to serve a mission!!

Today, I opened myself up extra to the Spirit. I tried harder to listen in Church and in the two, yes two, firesides I went to today!

Sometimes, I ask God to help me feel excited for my mission that day. Every time I do and watch for His answer, it always comes.

I wish I could go now! I can't wait to follow Jake's example; no, I'm not doing it just for him. If anything, it'll make our time apart longer. I want to serve a mission, and that's what qualifies me to serve. I love my Father so much, and I'm pretty sure my enthusiasm and energy will intimidate everyone I teach :)

I start on my papers in four weeks and submit them April 30th. My eligibility date is December 30th. I'm not unrealistic; I know that it will be the hardest thing I've ever done. I know Satan is going to hit me hard because he does not what me to go out and serve.

He can make me as scared as he wants. I'm still going.

Faith isn't the absence of fear, but not letting your fear keep you from doing something that's

right.

Plus, I'm pretty sure I'll get called to serve here...

or here...

maybe here?

probably to teach this guy...

 

...and most definitely here

 

My favorite thing in the world

My favorite thing in the world is when I open my mailbox and see this inside. I almost always hold it over my head like a trophy

and say

"YESSSSSSS!!!"