SHE'S BACK!!!

My best friend Hayley finished her mission!  It was so good to see her!

One of my Favorite Mormon Messages!

I want to share one of my favorite Mormon Messages of all times.  It's one that I could watch over and over for a variety of reasons.  I love the power that Elder Holland speaks with and His testimony gives me chills every time I hear it.  It is also a message that causes me to think and put things into perspective.  When things aren't easy in life, this video helps remind me that I don't have to do things alone.  Christ knows how we feel when we pass through difficult times.  He will be there with us, and send others to help us.  I am a firm believer in angels, even if they are just people who are surrounding us and feel inspired to help us.  

I know that Jesus Christ lives and loves us which is why He gave His life and suffered so much.   

I miss my best friend! 

I want to learn Hebrew

If there is anywhere I could go to right now (besides Chile), it would definitely be Jerusalem/Israel, or I would go to New Zealand.  I've always had interest in Middle Eastern culture, especially in regards to the bible and history of that region.  Part of those interests is learning the ancient languages from that part of the world.  It is a goal of mine to learn Hebrew one day.  IT WOULD BE SO COOL.  I think of the different ways things are translated, and I want to learn Hebrew and then read ancient texts with that skill.

Unfortunately, right now, I only have so much time to do so many things.  This is one of those times when I look at the 50-60 more years I'll be alive and I think of all the things I have yet to learn.  Just take a walk through a single library and you'll know what I mean.  I also loving having intelligent conversations with people about cool stuff.  For example, I have a friend in my English class who is a physics major because he wants to be an astronomer.  Sometimes we talk about really cool stuff concerning the universe and space.  I find it fascinating!  Maybe I'm not a physics major, but I like to learn about cool stuff.  Learning is one of my favorite things in the world, and that is why I think it would be really neat to be able to read ancient texts in their original languages. 

The Beautiful Wall of Andrea Burton-isms

From left to right: Carrie, Lexi, Katherine, Me, Ashlee, Andrea

This semester, I had roommates who were awesome.  We like to laugh and have a good time.  To describe them further:  Katherine is my roommate who also served in Chile (not in my mission).  She's engaged to be married this April.  Then there's Carrie.  She is basically hilarious.  I say this because I will literally be getting ready in one room, or eating breakfast and all of the sudden I hear an outburst of giggling.  I don't really know how to describe it.  Its just funny.  She's an English major and a cowgirl.  Yes, there is a John Wayne calendar in our room (courtesy of Carrie).  Then there is Ashlee.  She is the food genius because she knows how to cook way good.  I would also never want to be in a debate with her.  I mean, ever.  Then, there's Lexi who got married halfway through the semester, and Kaitlin who lives here the other half of the semester.  And finally, (drum roll)......  Boom.  Andrea Burton.  She is awesome and one of the funniest people I've ever met.  She's a convert of 3 years in the church.  This semester, we've laughed at so many funny things she's said, and to sum it up, it is of common opinon she should write a book or a memoir.  Here are just a few of the quotes from her in honor of her great hilariousness:

(Side note: They may be 'you have to be there moments.' Sorry...) 

Anyways....

The Wall of Andrea:

-"Do you have a brother named Ham?" (The first day our home teachers came over to visit us, one introduced himself as 'Shem.'  This is the response of Andrea.)

-"Emily-Freaking-Hanks" (I'm not really sure how this came to be, but she just randomly started calling me it one day, and now it's kinda just the only way she says my name.)

-"Do you need any sage?" (Our home teachers came over to give a blessing on the house.  She asked them this question.  Lol.)

-"All two of you?" (Typically there are 4 boys in an FHE group here.  Only two came over to introduce themselves.  Therefore, yes...all two of them.)

-"So I dubbed him 'Nazi Joe'" (Referring to an old FHE brother)

-"This one time, at Awana-Camp..." (Andrea told us her many stories of a Awana camp as a child.  Pretty much every story she tells us starts with, "this one time, at...")

-"Oh. You're like the posterboy for Mormonism?" 

-"Release your inner-fish!" 

-"Spawn of Satan!" 

-"Sometimes I ask, wait, why did I join this church again?  Oh yeah, cuz it's TRUE!" (She was wondering if  skirt was necessary to wear because she was already comfortable in her pants.)

-"Can we help it if the food here is better than the men?"

-"I believe that Satanas had a hand in the creation of math 108." (Math vs. Andrea)

-"I hate to burst your bubble, but my dad grows bigger cabbages than that." (When we went to the grocery store, and Ashlee bought cabbages to make St. Patricks Day food)

-"Well if it isn't Mr. Big Deal himself." (Background story:  Our FHE brother said people should talk to him because he is a big deal in testimony meeting on fast sunday.  This occurred at the family home evening following that meeting). 

-"This cake is better than making out." (One way of saying that the cake was delicious).
-"He doesn't like Star Wars.  It's sacrelige." (in a southern accent.)
-"We could dress up as witches and go visit Jared." (brainstorming april fools day pranks)

hammocking

Who doesn't love reading in their hammock on a nice sunny day?

"Real Age" quiz results?

Yesterday, I was randomly scrolling through my facebook newsfeed when I saw that someone had taken a quiz of "what is your real age?"  I thought, "Oh, that sounds interesting."  I take the quiz of "how old are you really/maturity level." It asked me different kinds of questions, and I figured you know, maybe I'd get a 20-30 year old result.  OH no. My real age?  Take a guess. 62 years old.  62!!! Yikes.  I'm guessing this could mean three things.  I am very wise and mature, I am an extremely boring barely 21 year old, or this quiz is completely rigged?  It makes me wonder.

I feel as if I have been living under a rock the last 7 months.

I am an avid reader and I love to learn new things.  As a freshmen in college and all through high school, I would always go to the library during lunch hours or study time.  IT WAS AMAZING.  I sort of stopped going during the day up here at Idaho because there are so many people and it bogs down the internet.  We did, however, go there for my morning class, and then last night, I went to study and there weren't many people there.  I have forgotten my love of libraries.  Being around a lot of books gets me excited because there is always a billion more things to learn about, it's usually quite peaceful, open late hours, and I feel like I enter a different world because my imagination opens up.  Moral of this random post?  1. I love libraries and I am wondering why the heck I haven't been there all this winter semester.  2.  Someday, when I'm rich, I want to a library of my own.  3.  I love books/learning.  4. Libraries seem very calming.  5.  I prefer physical textbooks to electronic books (cuz you can annotate the heck out of them).  Indeed, libraries are a beautiful thing.

Ghost Town

Recently, my friend, Julianne, and myself, had an epic adventure to R Mountain.  It's really more of a hill in my books, but nonetheless, it makes for an epic adventure.  We woke up at 4 in the morning or so, and we drove out there, relying on nothing more than my 'faithful' GPS.  For the most part, my GPS was faithful, and we made it to the trail safely, and hiked to the top (with some other friends whom we met up with).  I love hiking, but it was completely miserable at the top because it was freezing cold, and I was definitely wearing my warmest hiking clothes.  Some people were wearing shorts.  Crazies.  Anyways, afterwards, we were driving back to my apartment.  The way there and back is literally just field and country land.  Julianne noticed something on the side of the road, with an old building or two.  I didn't really notice it, but we decided to turn around and see what it was.  I thought I had seen one or two houses, but what we really found was an old ghost town that had been slightly restored.  It was soooo cool!  Most of it.  We just explored it and took a lot of pictures.  The only freaky thing was in one of the older sheds, we found this creepy clown which will probably give me nightmares the rest of my life.  Beside the point, it was probably the most adventurous thing I've done in a while.  Will I return?  Oh yes.

Are you, are you coming to the tree?

Some old cabins

Pretty sure this place was filled with bats. 

Love those mountains, even if it's -10 degrees. 

Scary clowns in an old shed.  Hello nightmares?

Best Quote Ever!

My mom posted a small quote on facebook that was amazing!  I don't know who said it, but I absolutely love it.  It says:

"When you are going through something hard and wonder where God is...Remember the teacher is always quiet during a test."

Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice:  As a kid, I never wanted to read these books/watch these movies, but now i am converted.  I've never been much of an English literature person, or romance reader, but I watched the movie for the first time a few weeks ago.  I LOVED IT.  It all started with me randomly listening to the soundtrack to the movie which is also way good.  Moral of the story?  As soon as I have some free time on my hands, I will be borrowing the copy of Pride and Prejudice from my roommate and reading it.  Jane Austen, here I come.