DAY ONE HUNDRED FOURTY NINE ... 29 May 2009

Happy (early) Birthday to Paola! Her official 21st birthday is 31 May but we partied early. We had fantastic food and Transformers in the back yard projected onto a big screen. And delectable birthday cake. I love you girl and am so thankful for your friendship!

DAY ONE HUNDRED FOURTY EIGHT ... 28 May 2009

I love the moon. And I love that Dave loves the moon as much as I do. This photo was taken on a date with Dave a couple days ago and I love it. I can never get too much of nature.

DAY ONE HUNDRED FOURTY SEVEN ... 27 May 2009

A funny thing happened when my jacket zipper decided to break .... we thought zipping it all the way up would make the zipper reset ... but then it got stuck at the top and wouldn't budge. Even Lindey's office voodoo kit wouldn't fix it. So I had to try to squeeze out of the little neck hole. It was crazy and I almost suffocated on all that fur (a huge thanks to Linds for her assistance!). It was actually really funny and I was crying from laughter. I'm glad I have awesome friends at work that could share it with me.

DAY ONE HUNDRED FOURTY SIX ... 26 May 2009

Happy Happy Birthday Christy Dear! I love my dearest sister so much! She turned 26 on May 26 and it was so fun to visit and bring her presents. It's hard to believe we have been together for 25 years. I can't wait for the next 25. She's amazing and I look up to her so much. (And she's due to have her baby in 18 days! Hooray!)

DAY ONE HUNDRED FOURTY FIVE ... 25 May 2009

This is why I love to get away from it all. Breathtaking.

DAY ONE HUNDRED FOURTY FOUR ... 24 May 2009

Card games at the cabin. There is nothing better! And Jason and Christy hooked us up with the goodies so we over-indulged and felt sick all night long. Yumm.

DAY ONE HUNDRED FOURTY THREE ... 23 May 2009

All 600 grams of Aussie goodness made it safely through customs and will be a source of delight for meals to come.

DAY ONE HUNDRED FOURTY TWO ... 22 May 2009

Steve Bylund is married! His wedding was gorgeous and he and Lezlee look so happy together. Ang and I represented AMWM well and I managed to make a fool of myself in front of Lezlee's father. Congrats Steve & Lezlee Bylund!

DAY ONE HUNDRED FOURTY ONE ... 21 May 2009

Banana split adventures with Dave. Sickeningly sugary goodness. (his is the bottom middle one that looks like a volcano) Note to self for future reference: stick with just ice cream and fruit.

DAY ONE HUNDRED FOURTY ... 20 May 2009

I need this place more than ever right now. The Lord is the only one who can help me.

DAY ONE HUNDRED THIRTY NINE ... 19 May 2009

I got to experience this day twice. I would not recommend that. I felt like someone other than myself the whole day. Dave was a great support and he even made me dinner! (he has never made dinner for a girl before, so that makes me pretty special I guess ... LOL) I looked (and felt) so exhausted. Ugh.

DAY ONE HUNDRED THIRTY EIGHT ... 18 May 2009

Dinner with Blake and Emily Tredrea (who is due in 6 weeks!). Blakey was one of my most favourite district leaders on my mission. It was definitely a fun/funny catch up talking to him. Claves came too (sitting between Ann and I) and made everything that much funnier.

DAY ONE HUNDRED THIRTY SEVEN ... 17 May 2009

Enjoying our Business Class seats (with the great blankets and flash meals) on our way back from Adelaide (via Melbourne ... oh Qantas how I love to hate you today).

DAY ONE HUNDRED THIRTY SIX ... 16 May 2009

The beautiful couple outside the Adelaide Temple after their sealing. Congrats Jamie and Sunny Korte!

DAY ONE HUNDRED THIRTY FIVE ... 15 May 2009

So happy to be in Adelaide with one of my best mates, Jamie "Bazza" Korte, for his wedding. Of course we had to find some Kim shops in Chinatown.

DAY ONE HUNDRED THIRTY FOUR ... 14 May 2009

There are other experiences you are glad you get to have at least once in a lifetime, like touching a rainbow while hiking through the rainforest in Queensland (we were standing behind a waterfall, if that makes it any cooler). (don't mind my daggy rolled up track pants)

DAY ONE HUNDRED THIRTY THREE ... 13 May 2009

Haircut in Melbourne ...

DAY ONE HUNDRED THIRTY TWO ... 12 May 2009

I would like to visit Antarctica one day.

DAY ONE HUNDRED THIRTY ONE ... 11 May 2009

We went on our own sort of ghost tour at Port Arthur (Tasmania). Freaky as.

DAY ONE HUNDRED THIRTY ... 10 May 2009

If you have seen the movie Forever Strong you might recognise this scene. While we were having Tim Tam Slams on top of Mt. Wellington, Elle had an accident and ended up hanging on this fence. HAHA!

DAY ONE HUNDRED TWENTY NINE ... 09 May 2009

I don't think anyone could fully understand why I love Indian food so much without eating at Little India in Hobart, Tasmania. It's what first got me hooked on Indian and I will never be the same. Camilla Mitchell, Elle Carmichael, and I went there the first night I was in Tassie and it was fabulous! And plus they are crackups as so we were gearing up for a good weekend together. (I already may have ruined my shirt with some curry so the napkins are to prevent further damage ... and to look cool)

DAY ONE HUNDRED TWENTY EIGHT ... 08 May 2009

Small mission get-together in Sydney with some good pals ... Kyle Owen, myself, Tom Frost, Kelly Conlon, and Sai Sai. It was fun seeing everyone and catching up on old friendships.

DAY ONE HUNDRED TWENTY SEVEN ... 07 May 2009

The joys of missionary work continue on for eternity. We got to go to lunch with a girl we taught and baptised while serving in Tasmania, Wei Zhang. She is still active and recently married a member boy, Peter. (Wei is the one sitting, and Ivy Luo (AKA Sai Sai) -- my chinese companion whom I served with in Hobart Tasmania -- is the one giving the chinese victory ... haha) I almost cried because it was so great seeing her still embracing the truths of the Gospel. I am so grateful for the chance I had to come here and experience this. Wei and Peter took us to this fancy chinese restaurant and we ate soooo much good food. It is Wei's birthday soon so we bought her this cake and we ate it as dessert.

DAY ONE HUNDRED TWENTY SIX ... 06 May 2009

Ahh, the Sydney Opera House. So beautiful and sooo touristy. :)

DAY ONE HUNDRED TWENTY FIVE ... 05 May 2009

Smithie and I went to the Art Gallery in Brisbane and walked around this China exhibit. It was really cool. They had this little supermarket and we were heaps excited to buy chinese groceries (fair dinkum, Smithie was getting her money out and everything) and then we realised everything was empty! They had taken out the stuff and resealed the packages. It was pretty cool aye.

DAY ONE HUNDRED TWENTY FOUR ... 04 May 2009

So Lucais Claven and I went swimming at this man-made granite quarry. It was quite a hike to get in. And sure, it was kind of illegal, but I can wipe my hands of that cause I'm a visitor right? And of course, Claves dived (yes dived, head first) off this cliff .... 15+ meters tall. I value my life a bit more than that.

DAY ONE HUNDRED TWENTY THREE ... 03 May 2009

Our 'Temple Square Sisters' photo outside the Brisbane Temple. (with my bestie and last mission companion Ann Smith)

DAY ONE HUNDRED TWENTY TWO ... 02 May 2009

This day did not exist in my world. I was on an airplane for 16 hours and also lost 16 hours due to the time difference from Utah to Australia. (Left LA at 11:20pm Friday night, arrived in Brisbane 6:00am Sunday morning) I got a nice photo of the incredible sunrise from the plane window though.

DAY ONE HUNDRED TWENTY ONE ... 01 May 2009

My happy family saw me off at the airport. Australia here I come!!

DAY ONE HUNDRED TWENTY ... 30 April 2009

Too much packing and organizing has made me go crazy. Almost literally.

DAY ONE HUNDRED NINETEEN ... 29 April 2009

Graffiti walls are hott.

DAY ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEEN ... 28 April 2009

Dave volunteered to come clothes shopping with me and I think he now regrets it. Oh Target, thank you for the lack of customer service. Dave had to change in the storage closet dressing room. And then got in trouble for it later. Haha. At least he got some hott board shorts.

DAY ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEEN ... 27 April 2009

This amazing little present came in the mail (not the picture ... we already had that). We opened it with glee and cried the whole way through (with laughter of course). Some people are crazy, and some people, namely Kerry McGuinn White, think they had a love affair with Donald Trump in 1981 and that he bought her a house in Malibu. (She also thinks she is the Queen of Sweden, so that tells you how credible the source is) Thank you Kerry for bringing some light into our terrible Monday. (P.S. That photo is not current .... just look at the hair)