SOCCER

I forgot to mention soccer!

I love it and I don't get to play it nearly enough. I have a good Saturday morning group, although finding a good field has been an adventure (including a particularly interesting/terrifying run-in with a McLean soccer mom... she was nuts and a bit hypocritical, but just like the mission we are just creating memories and good stories).
On Wednesdays, when I can, I either get out to Chantilly or over to Alexandria to play with one of two groups. I really wish that I could play soccer daily, but it is just hard to organize and hard to get to different fields. It makes me miss the good old days of high school soccer.

In July I will be going with two of my soccer buddies, Annie and Gerardo, to the Man U/Barcelona game and BOY am I excited!! I have NEVER been to such a BIG game. Mesi v Rooney... It should be really great.




Soccer truely is THE beautiful game.

Of Late

So... forcing myself to blog is harder than it once was. But since all 6 of my followers MUST be dying to know what I am doing with my life of late, I will do it! I will share with you all what has been and is going on. I take very few pictures (which I should change) so these images are either stolen from my sisters-in-law or else boring images from the world-wide internet (doesn't that bring back a flood of memories: dial-up, "You've Got Mail", AOL, middle school, IMing!? Good times)

This past weekend I went to see a PLAY! At Ford's Theater.

It was SO fun. The reason that I went to this play (since I usually do not get to the theater nearly as much as I want) was that my and Rachel's friend Matt Anderson was performing in the play. It was really fun and he did a GREAT job. If it hadn't closed on Saturday, I would recommend it to everyone. The theater itself made the show even more fun. I had never seen a play in Ford's; sitting there and thinking about the reality of what happened there was pretty neat (...not that what happened there was neat, but feeling the history and the importance of that event was neat...) Afterward, Matt took us all backstage, which was really fun. Backstage at Ford's is TINY and Matt said he had something like 29 costume changes... can you imagine the chaos! Here is Matt in his Parisian outfit:

THIS weekend I will be participating in the crazy single Mormon Memorial Weekend celebration known as Duck Beach. This is my first official year going down (the unofficial year being about two weeks after I got home from my mission and I was with my family and did my utmost to avoid the single's group and was PAINFULLY awkward in the few things in which I participated). I will be staying with mostly people I don't know. My visiting teachee who is awesome will be in the house and a few good friends will be in a house nearby. I am excited to get out of town and to beautiful North Carolina, and to meet some new people.
This is a picture from my Aunt and Uncle's house in the OBX on the sound side- gorgeous sunsets.

As far as what I am doing day to day: I have two part time jobs (one that was just an internship until recently). I work Monday, Wednesday, Friday at the National Archives looking at Civil War soldiers' pensions and inputting data from them into different comp. programs. I also scan documents. It is OK. My other gig is with the group Morality in Media and the War on Illegal Pornography. It is a really good cause. I am involved in the grassroots efforts, growing our coalition, working with volunteers, fund raising, calling congress, etc. I do not LOVE it, but I am learning a lot and it IS a good cause and I am getting good experience with a non-profit, so I can figure out if that is what I want to do. I REALLY like and look up to my supervisor though, there are basically just two of us + an intern in the office, so I spend LOTS of time with my supervisor. She is stellar.

I reread the Hunger Games last week and I love them more than ever. We'll see how the movies turn out. I am a little bit concerned... ESP. about Peeta- who is my favorite and the most important.


I really enjoy using PAINT on my computer:


As far as my future:
I got wait-listed at BYU, which is not a surprise. But, that makes it really difficult to know what I will be doing in September... I am really thinking about moving somewhere completely new- San Diego is on the top of the list, but I am open for other places. A job would be nice, of course. Also, I need to figure out what I want to do/where I want to go for Grad school (if I don't end up wanting law school), so I can START a real career.

The best part of my life right now is them:
Joseph:


Abigail (Hapigail):


Lucy:


This is a random collection of things. I did this while doing other things, so my mind was not 100% focused, so that explains any disconnectedness or confusion :)

Cousins

SO cute.

Little Bits of Heaven

This past October both of my brother's welcomed new baby girls into their families and they have been the most wonderful additions to our family. I am a little bit obsessed and a lot a bit in love with both of them and it has really been great being so close and able to spend a lot of time with them.


This is Abigail. She is the newest member of the Marc and Sarah Oliphant family and the new little sister to my gem-of-a-nephew Joseph.
Marc has nicknamed Abigail "Happigail" because she is such a happy, smiling baby. I have had the wonderful opportunity to see her happiness in full swing- giggling at her older brother. It was the cutest. I also get to babysite Abigail occassionally. She is a smiling, content baby who adores her big brother and who would prefer to laugh than cry anytime. Sometimes when she is clearly sad but you are smiling at her you can see her struggle to not smile back at you- it's a bit of a battle between her sweet nature and her infant-need to cry. Abigail is a great blessing!!


This is Lucile, or Lucy as she is known.
She is the first child of John and Gwen Oliphant. They live up in Princeton, NJ- which is only 3 hours away and is therefore acceptable. We have gotten to see her quite a bit- not enough for my liking, of course, but enough. They were here for Thanksgiving and for Christmas and will be coming down for Easter. I am going to go see her this weekend too- so she is getting plenty of Auntie Wonderful time! Lucy is a sweet, cuddly little ball of love. She is a adorable and already has a fun little personality. Everytime I have to say goodbye to Lucy my heart aches a little bit. She is such a doll and I adore the little Goose!




And of course, I have to mention Joseph. The little boy who has stolen my heart. Joseph is such a sweetheart who loves to run around and have fun. He is really an enjoyable playmate, even for me!
Our exploits include baseball and frisbee in the backyard (he's got a great arm!), doing karate in the front yard, playing legos, memory, shoots and ladders, and tag, and we had a great time last week decorating for Sarah's birthday and making her a homemade card. He is fun and full of vim and vigor! I just love this kid!

Families are the most important and it is so fun to have our's expanding. These two little baby girls are such miracles and it is amazing how much we all love them already! So, here's to two amazing nieces and a fabulous nephew!


(Needless to say, Joseph was not at his happiest in this picture, but I find it wonderfully endearing!)

A piece of Truth

"The house does not rest upon the ground, but upon a woman."

-Mexican Proverb

For the Beauty of the Earth

This summer I discovered that I love hiking and camping. I love all things outdoors and quite frankly Utah is the best place for all of those things. Here are a few pics and highlights.
We went to Zions last May and it was awesome:
(L-R) Preston, Ie Ling, me, Greg- The four of us went down to Moab on a Thursday night and found a good camp site and then on Friday we did a fun hike to this arch and then half of another very uphill hike, which we gave up on. It was really fun.

Another from that hike. The future cover to our band's first album:

Then, on Friday afternoon/night a bunch of our other friends from the ward came down and we all watched the sunset and then on Saturday we did some of the fun hikes around Arches National Park. Here is the whole group:

We did Delicate Arch which was beautiful, although crowded. The arches really are amazing.

I think this hike was called Double O Arch hike which included landscape arch which was awesome. Again, really incredible stuff.

Greg, Preston, and I stayed behind a bit longer after everyone else had headed back to Provo and did two other awesome hikes including our favorite called Negro Bills which took us to another amazing arch. The trail went through more greenery and along a beautiful stream. I don't have any pics of that one. The boys have them all and I keep forgetting to ask for them!
After the glory of Moab I realized that I needed to do more hiking. I didn't do nearly as much as I would have liked during the summer, but in the fall I started trying to go weekly so a few of us would go on Friday afternoons. This is some of us: me, JM, and David with Preston taking the picture. This was a great hike up Provo canyon.


Next, and a super highlight of my hiking from the past few months:
ZIONS!! The hiking crew- JM, David, Preston, and myself- took off on a Friday afternoon, got to Zions in the early evening and drove around the park a bit- including a small but fun hike/run while we were stuck in construction traffic, camped on BLM land for free, battled fire ants, made peach cobbler on the fire, and had a not-completely-miserable night's sleep under the stars. Saturday we woke up early and headed deep into the park. We started with Hidden Canyon, which was a fun one. It was especially nice because we were some of the first on the trail so it was pretty peaceful and nice. Then, after lunch we hiked the Narrows, which is so fun. I had done it as a kid but it was nice to go again. I would love to do the real hike- the three day backpacking trip- someday.
Here is Preston jumping in Hidden Canyon (I don't know why these pictures turned out so small)

Me, Preston, and David taking a break

On the trail!






So, the moral of the blogpost is that I love hiking. I love being outdoors. Virginia is beautiful in a different way and I am excited to being able to get to know her trails. All I need now is a canine companion to accompany me...

A wonderful Story

President Monson shared this during the General Relief Society broadcast this past October and I thought it was such a beautiful story. I will actually post info on my life soon...

Enjoy:

A classic account of judging by appearance was printed in a national magazine many years ago. It is a true account—one which you may have heard but which bears repeating.

A woman by the name of Mary Bartels had a home directly across the street from the entrance to a hospital clinic. Her family lived on the main floor and rented the upstairs rooms to outpatients at the clinic.

One evening a truly awful-looking old man came to the door asking if there was room for him to stay the night. He was stooped and shriveled, and his face was lopsided from swelling—red and raw. He said he’d been hunting for a room since noon but with no success. “I guess it’s my face,” he said. “I know it looks terrible, but my doctor says it could possibly improve after more treatments.” He indicated he’d be happy to sleep in the rocking chair on the porch. As she talked with him, Mary realized this little old man had an oversized heart crowded into that tiny body. Although her rooms were filled, she told him to wait in the chair and she’d find him a place to sleep.

At bedtime Mary’s husband set up a camp cot for the man. When she checked in the morning, the bed linens were neatly folded and he was out on the porch. He refused breakfast, but just before he left for his bus, he asked if he could return the next time he had a treatment. “I won’t put you out a bit,” he promised. “I can sleep fine in a chair.” Mary assured him he was welcome to come again.

In the several years he went for treatments and stayed in Mary’s home, the old man, who was a fisherman by trade, always had gifts of seafood or vegetables from his garden. Other times he sent packages in the mail.

When Mary received these thoughtful gifts, she often thought of a comment her next-door neighbor made after the disfigured, stooped old man had left Mary’s home that first morning. “Did you keep that awful-looking man last night? I turned him away. You can lose customers by putting up such people.”

Mary knew that maybe they had lost customers once or twice, but she thought, “Oh, if only they could have known him, perhaps their illnesses would have been easier to bear.”

After the man passed away, Mary was visiting with a friend who had a greenhouse. As she looked at her friend’s flowers, she noticed a beautiful golden chrysanthemum but was puzzled that it was growing in a dented, old, rusty bucket. Her friend explained, “I ran short of pots, and knowing how beautiful this one would be, I thought it wouldn’t mind starting in this old pail. It’s just for a little while, until I can put it out in the garden.”

Mary smiled as she imagined just such a scene in heaven. “Here’s an especially beautiful one,” God might have said when He came to the soul of the little old man. “He won’t mind starting in this small, misshapen body.” But that was long ago, and in God’s garden how tall this lovely soul must stand!
-Adapted from Mary Bartels, “The Old Fisherman,” Guideposts, June 1965, 24–25.