Back from South America

Well i'm back, and **cough** yeah I didn't write AT ALL on my blog while i was down there. But that's ok because I was too busy having the time of my life. I'm so glad I was able to go! It was an amazing experience.

Here are some pictures:





Whoa, whoa whoa.... I WAS going to post like fifty million picture BUT blogger sucks at uploading things fast. You get two pics. Sorry. But there's more on my FB!

In the airport...

So i'm sitting here in the SLC airport, we are probably going to start boarding soon. We are flying to LA and then at 1:30 we catch a flight that goes to Lima, Peru and then on to Santiago, Chile.

I am surprisingly not very nervous, (surprising because I've sort of been freaking out the last 2 days), but it's nice being with the group. I feel like I've over packed. Most other people only have a backpack but I have my carry on and smaller messenger bag- which is chuck full.

Meh, I guess there's nothing I can do about it.

I'll likely be blogging a lot more for the next five weeks. I'll probably post again in LA!

I LOVE YOU BROCK!

Graduation!

I wanted to put up a few picture of graduation! I'll have to write more when I have some time, but the pictures are great!

Yardwork!

So first of all Brock is SUCH AN AMAZING COOK! He got a barbecue for Christmas and just recently got it out and he is amazing. You must come taste!

This last weekend we did some yard work (thanks for your help Dad!!) and I wanted to show you what we did!





Those little yellow ball things are solar powered lights that change color at night... they look SO cool!





We need to sweep the edges up so they are even but other than that I love it! I think it looks great! We have more landscaping plans to come... so we'll see how they work out!!

Never Underestimate the Power of a Puppy...

Or two puppies for that matter. Except Howie is tame, and no longer a wild beast (so I thought). SURELY he had NOTHING to do with this, it was all Kaila's idea...

Here lie the remains (very very plural remains) of what used to be a puppy pad.:



This is what I get to come home too. Ahhh, isn't it great. At least it's not Brock making the mess.

Love you Howie and Kaila!

Bathroom Project

So I don't think I ever showed you guys the mini bathroom renovation that Brock and I did in December. I have so say I was very proud. We took our scary bathroom downstairs that has a crazy old blue sink and blue toilet, dark yucky paneling, and of course an aluminum spaceship shower...and made it 1000% better!Now when you walk in you don't feel like spiders are going to bite your ankles. So here are the before pictures: (Technically this isn't the bathroom but this is exactly what the walls and floors used to look like) and the after pictures!! *imagine the lovely warm smell of vanilla as you look at this pictures- haha*

Charlotte Russe

I love my new dress from CR:


and my new shoes:


the shoes are fairly easy to walk in but they do make my feet tired after a day at the office :D

First Week of School

Well the class I wasn't sure I'd like, I love, and the class I wanted to take, I don't like at all...

I've been seriously considering dropping my 2 econ classes but I know I would regret that forever. Just being two classes away from a second bachelors degree... come on. I can stick it out. And I will rewards myself with a trip to Latin America!

So for those of you that don't know I'll be gone for 5 weeks to Brazil, Chile and Peru meeting executives and banks and financial institutions, as well as serving the people of Peru with helping make recommendations for micro loan funds. I'm way excited and I've waited my whole college career to have an international experience, and now I'll get that chance.

So my sister Nichelle is doing better from her accident, but today she had to go in for surgery on her hip. The doctors had to re-dislocate it, and pop it back in so they could take out the bone shards that chipped off. Apparently they found out she broke 8 ribs, unlike the 6 we thought she did.

EIGHT RIBS!! She only has 12 and she broke 8! The poor girl is getting worse as she's getting better! I hope we don't have anymore surprise injuries that reveal themselves.

Brock and I went to visit Danielle and Mike Klappoth this weekend. It was so fun to hang with Dani. Silly boys just killed Nazi Bomzies all night.

Well I do have plenty of reading to do: the mystery of capital by Hernando de Soto and of course.... text books.

Thanks for reading!

Sledding on Old Main Hill

My little sister Nichelle is very blessed to be alive today. She broke her back (not the vertebrae/spinal cord), broke 3 ribs which punctured and collapsed her right lung, and severely dislocated her left hip.

She is going to be ok, it's just going to take a lot of time (and morphine). From what I understand she was sledding with her friends and they decided to link arms and go down on tubes. She was in the middle and they were headed to fast and she couldn't move out of the way of a large tree. She said the last thing she remembers is being told , "Protect your head" so she did everything she could to protect her head. Somehow she survived the crash, and was taken to the emergency room via ambulance.

She had multiple x-rays, and a ct scan to find out the extent of the damage. Her back is broken but not in the sense that you would normally think. The doctors said L5-T11 is broken (I think). Her is a picture to show you where i'm talking about:



I think that the boys who she was sledding with here going to give her a priesthood blessing but their oil was frozen because it was so cold! There have been many prayers for her and her name is in the temple. I'm sure she will be alright it's just a long road to recovery. She will likely be taking the semester off because it will be months before she can pick up textbooks.

I'm so thankful that Brock and I have made it so far without any major injuries. This makes me reflect on how precious life is and that we really do have such amazing bodies, with amazing people that live in those bodies that we love and care about so much. Thanks for everyone's support and love.

Nichelle, we all wish you a speedy recovery and all the morphine you need! Ha- LOVE YOU SISTER!