Crooked Brooke

Missionary!

2011-03-21T12:30:00.000-07:00

For those of you who haven't heard, I've been called on a mission! I'm leaving in two days for the Great Kentucky Louisville Mission! To follow my blog about my mission adventures go here:

sisterkentucky.blogspot.com

If you need permission to view it, send a request to lisapnelson@yahoo.com or paigen22@hotmail.com.

See you in 18 months!

Twelfth Day of Christmas

2010-12-24T12:21:00.000-08:00

On the twelfth day of Christmas I'm truly grateful for:

Twelve "Pad" friends.

When you live away from home, your friends become your family. Since I've been up at BYU I've had many friends that have shaped me and supported me. This past year in particular, I've had twelve friends who have been my best friends. I honestly think of these people as my sisters-and-brothers-from-other-mothers. They've been there for me to pull me out of bed feed me when I've been sick. They've been there to cry with me when I've needed to cry. They've been there to pull all-nighters in goofy costumes because of a midnight movie premier. They've thrown Halloween parties with me. They've gone on road trips with me. They've started a book club with me whether or not they like reading. They've laughed with me. They've forgiven my many weaknesses. They've come out to my amateur theatre productions.They've endured my poking and prodding sense of humor. They've encouraged me to be a good person.

I miss them when I'm away from them.

Boise Boys

Camping

Cinco de Mayo

Demolition Derby

"I want a hippopotamus for Christmas" (I'm the hippo)

LOST Finale

Nighties

Polygamists

Dropping Whitney off at the MTC

I love them.

Here they are in no particular order:

Cami Butler

Carly Whetten (middle)

Christian Pieper

Emily Lloyd

Lauren Pieper

Kiera George

Kubo Kuboshige

Sarah Holt (pink shirt)

Shelene Webb (far left)

Whitney Morris (far left)

Shannon Merrell (red)

Michael Brandley

SO, on this Twelfth day of Christmas, I'm truly grateful for:

Twelve "Pad" Friends,

Eleven People Who've Inspired Me to Write,

Ten Sister Missionary Examples,

Nine Months in China and Nine Chinese Friends,

Eight Aunts, Eight Uncles, their Kids and their Kids' Kids,

Seven Pets, Past and Present,

Six Grandparents,

Five Nieces and Nephews,

Four Middle School Friends, Four High School Friends and Four China Friends,

Three Brothers, Three Sisters and Three Siblings-in-Law,

Two Loving Parents

One Promised King. Savior of the World.

I'm the luckiest girl in the world.

Eleventh Day of Christmas

2010-12-23T19:25:00.000-08:00

On the eleventh day of Christmas I'm truly grateful for:

Eleven people who've inspired me to write.

I've wanted to be a writer since my junior year of high school. Before that I had mostly wanted to be a college math professor.I say mostly because between the math professor and the writer I had about 75 other dreams and aspirations. I decided on being a writer because professional book reader/movie watcher/theater audience member wasn't a real job and because I found out that, like reading or watching movies and plays, when I'm writing I can be a secret agent and then I can be a match-maker and then I can be a mermaid and then I can be the other 72 things I wanted to be. There are eleven people (at least and not including my close friends and family) who have inspired and in some cases have urged me to pursue my dream of writing. Some are authors, some have been teachers and some are simply inspiring:

Walt Disney

"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them."

"Somehow I can't believe there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secret of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four C's. They are Curiosity, Confidence, Courage, and Constancy and the greatest of these is Confidence. When you believe a thing, believe it all the way, implicitly and unquestionably."

"I do not make films primarily for children. I make them for the child in all of us, whether we be six or sixty. Call the child "innocence". The worst of us is not without innocence, although buried deeply it might be. In my work I try to reach and speak to that innocence, showing it the fun and joy of living; showing it that laughter is healthy; showing it that the human species, although happily ridiculous at times, is still reaching for the stars."

"It's kind of fun to do the impossible."

Elvis Presley- The love of my life.

Fritz Mast

My AP English teacher my senior year. Mr. Mast is one of those people who has a fan in everyone he meets. There's something magnetic about him. I think it's because of his absolute honesty with himself and with others. He does what he loves and he finds joy and humor in every day. He's awfully nice but not in a a you-can-walk-all-over-him way. He's incredibly bright and knowledgeable in many academic areas but he also follows sports and likes to shoot some pool. He doesn't talk down or up to people, he just talks. And he has a way of making all of his students feel like they have the ability to do what is expected of them and not only that, but that they are important. He made me feel important. And he showed me that loving what you do is far more important than making money or earning accolades.

Jane Austen

"A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment."

"Sometimes the last person on earth you want to be with is the one person you can't be without."

"You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope... I have loved none but you."

"Perhaps it is our imperfections that make us so perfect for one another!"

"Nothing ever fatigues me, but doing what I do not like."

"It's been many years since I had such an exemplary vegetable."

"If any one faculty of our nature may be called more wonderful than the rest, I do think it is memory. There seems something more speakingly incomprehensible in the powers, the failures, the inequalities of memory, than in any other of our intelligences. The memory is sometimes so retentive, so serviceable, so obedient; at others, so bewildered and so weak; and at others again, so tyrannic, so beyond control! We are, to be sure, a miracle every way, but our powers of recollecting and of forgetting do seem peculiarly past finding out."

William Faulkner

"My mother is a fish."

"The saddest thing about love, Joe, is that not only the love cannot last forever, but even the heartbreak is soon forgotten."

"You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore."

"It's all now you see: tomorrow began yesterday and yesterday won't be over until tomorrow."

"I could smell the curves of the river beyond the dusk and I saw the last light supine and tranquil upon tideflats like pieces of broken mirror, then beyond them lights began in the pale clear air, trembling a little like butterflies hovering a long way off."

"Sometimes I aint so sho who's got ere a right to say when a man is crazy and he aint. Sometimes I think it aint none of us pure crazy and aint none of us pure sane until the balance of us talks him that-a-way. It's like it aint so much what a fellow does, but it's the way the majority of folks is looking at him when he does it."

Harrison Ford- The first man I ever loved.

Mary Reiff

In high school, Ms. Reiff was my English teacher my junior year and I loved her so much that I took her Arts and Humanities class my senior year. Ms. Reiff is the most eccentric, eclectic, whimsical person I've ever met. She brings pride and dignity to arts and creativity. She's the kind of person who refuses to call people by nick names. There is no such thing as Matt or Chris or Liz; it's Matthew, Christopher and Elizabeth. She wears draping, flowing tops so that when she waves her arms in the air for some grand gesture she needs to accompany her narration of her retelling of a romantic death or tragic love affair, not only her mouth will tell a story, but her body will dance along with it in a moving, magical moment. Ms. Reiff requires her students to be respectful of others and of themselves. She doesn't hand out compliments like candy, but when she does give you one, they are sincere and delicious. She made me realize that it's healthy to be proud of myself and of the work that I do and to reach for refinement and excellence.

J K Rowling

"It is our choices, Harry, that show us who we truly are, far more than our abilities."

"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."

"... in the light of Voldemort's return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open."

"It is important to fight, and fight again, and keep fighting, for only then can evil be kept at bay."

John Steinbeck

"Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen."

"I believe a strong woman may be stronger than a man, particularly if she happens to have love in her heart. I guess a loving woman is indestructible."

"Try to understand men. If you understand each other you will be kind to each other. Knowing a man well never leads to hate and almost always leads to love."

"Anything that just costs money is cheap."

"What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness."

"As happens sometimes, a moment settled and hovered and remained for much more than a moment. And sound stopped and movement stopped for much, much more than a moment."

Claudia Harris

Claudia is my favorite professor I've had at BYU. She was the teacher of my class where we studied drama from the perspective of English students. We read plays and analyzed them and their contribution to the arts and societal advances. She had the credentials to teach the class because she is a theater critic. Not only did she study anthropology and drama in Scotland, but she also critiqued it there. Here in the States she has also gained a reputation for critiquing and is in high demand. I liked her so much because she has done and continues to do something that I would love to do. She basically is a professional theater-goer. She taught me a lot about theory and the impact that writing and drama have on people. How writing reflects the ideas and sentiments that people have in every place in history. It isn't just writing if it's done well enough. It makes an impact and it speaks to and for a generation if it's done right. Claudia taught me that I can combine my passions and also urged me to pursue them. She made me believe that I have potential in that world.

Charlotte Bronte

"I try to avoid looking forward or backward, and try to keep looking upward."

"The shadows are as important as the light."

"Men judge us by the success of our efforts. God looks at the efforts themselves."

"Most true is it that 'beauty is in the eye of the gazer.' My master's colourless, olive face, square, massive brow, broad and jetty eyebrows, deep eyes, strong features, firm, grim mouth,-- all energy, decision, will,-- were not beautiful, according to rule; but they were more than beautiful to me; they were full of an interest, an influence that quite mastered me,-- that took my feelings from my own power and fettered them in his. I had not intended to love him; the reader knows I had wrought hard to extirpate from my soul the germs of love there detected; and now, at first renewed view of him, they spontaneously arrived, green and strong! He made me love him without looking at me.

So, on this Eleventh day of Christmas, I'm truly grateful for:

Eleven People Who've Inspired Me to Write,

Ten Sister Missionary Examples,

Nine Months in China and Nine Chinese Friends,

Eight Aunts, Eight Uncles, their Kids and their Kids' Kids,

Seven Pets, Past and Present,

Six Grandparents,

Five Nieces and Nephews,

Four Middle School Friends, Four High School Friends and Four China Friends,

Three Brothers, Three Sisters and Three Siblings-in-Law,

Two Loving Parents

One Promised King. Savior of the World.

Tenth Day of Christmas

2010-12-22T14:41:00.000-08:00

On the tenth day of Christmas I'm truly grateful for:

Ten sister missionary examples.

Ever since I can remember, I've wanted to serve a mission. I've had a lot of examples from men in my life of the blessings of missionary service and that's been wonderful. But I think there is something to be said for a girl seeing other girls serving missions. So, today I pay tribute to the women in my life that have urged me towards my goal of being a full-time missionary.

Leslie Thomas- (Brynn's mom) She was the first time I remember personally knowing a lady who had served a mission. I remember being glad that she was still a pretty and fun lady with a family. I guess till that point I hadn't really associated missionaries with normal people, especially moms. I remember thinking it was so neat that she was able to have gone and taught the gospel to people in Nova Scotia all before she got married and became a mom. I thought it was SO neat that she did that.
Tawny Miller- My best friend when I was a "tween" was Noah. His older sister was just a year older than my brother Joel. I remember when I found out that she was serving a mission. Again, I was struck with how neat it was that Tawny wanted to do that. I looked forward to any news about her while she was in France. When she got home from her mission she gave a fireside at Girl's Camp. Looking at her and the difference it had made for her solidified my resolve to be a sister missionary one day.
Mindy Dallenbach- or Sister Dallenbach as I called her was my Mia Maid's teacher. She was such a spiritual giant in my life. She was so encouraging and fun and you knew exactly where she stood in her testimony and her devotion to God and his gospel. I wanted to be like her. When I found out that she had served a mission at Temple Square, it made me so happy. Of course she had served a mission. I admired her teaching techniques as well as her knowledge of the scriptures.
Janice Moyle- My Great-Aunt. She and her husband served in France as a senior couple. She has such a great sense of humor and a zest for life. I love that she and her husband decided to leave Utah for a couple years and spend time as missionary-sweethearts. Such a romantic thing to do as a couple. Janice's husband got sick while they were in France and eventually died because of complications from his illness back in America. But they were able to finish out their mission and dedicate some of their last years together to the Lord as faithful servants to him. I see so much of who I want to be in my Aunt Janice, a senior couple missionary is one of them.
Lisa Nelson- My mom. When she was about to be a Freshman in high school, her family was called on a mission to Virginia (My grandpa was the mission president there). She had to leave all of her friends and extended family and everything she knew back in Utah and embark on one of the biggest chapters of her life in a completely new environment and part of the country. That transition wasn't the easiest. It was sometimes hard to make new friends and for a while all she had to lean on were her siblings. But she never speaks ill of her family's mission. Ever. She only ever has wonderful things to say about her family's time there. About how it was the best time of their lives and how she is so grateful for those three years there.
Bonnie Pinegar- My grandma. She has now served many missions with my grandpa. She follows him wherever the Lord calls them. I know that my grandpa couldn't have accepted some of the calls he has been able to without a wife by his side like my grandma. They are a wonderful couple who support each other and tirelessly accept call after call from the church to serve his children. From Virginia to Japan to other parts of Asia to the Southwest US to Utah to everywhere else in between. My grandma has been a wonderful example of how strong and beautiful a woman of God can be.
Susan Pinegar- My aunt. She and my Uncle Kevin recently got home from Seattle as mission president and wife. They moved their children there and served for three years. I don't think people realize the sacrifices a family makes when they accept a call like that. I know I didn't see every sacrifice they made, but I was humbled by the ones that I did see. And Susan loved it. She was a mother-away-from-home to those missionaries they had stewardship over. When she got back she talked about them like they were her own kids. And I know that she gained a broader love for God and his children through her service.

Whitney Morris- My recently-returned friend. Whitney is such a fun and bubbly and talented friend. She didn't have to serve. She had things that she was in the middle of when she left. But, living with her before she left, I know that she was close to the spirit and followed the prompting when she received it. I know from her letters and her spirit that she loved her mission very much. She had an optimistic attitude the whole time and made the most of every moment she had there.

Kiera George- When I first met Kiera, we were in China. Our group of 44 people went around and did brief introductions of ourselves. Kiera introduced herself and she seemed pretty cool and then she mentioned that she had served a mission. I was nineteen at the time and knew that my chance to serve would be coming up soon. When she mentioned that she served in Canada, I had the funniest thought go through my head: "I need to be her friend. I'm probably not cool enough to be her friend, but I have to try." HAha. Looking back, it's funny to think that I had a thought like that. But I know that at least that first part was inspired. I've gained so much from being Kiera's friend. She's been a great example to me and I'm so thankful for her. I've wanted to push forward and keep trying to get out on a mission because of her. Being able to sit and talk with her about her mission and see how much she loved it has been inspirational for me.

Lauren Pieper- When I got home from China I was twenty and ready to start preparing for my mission. Lauren and I are only a week and a half apart in age and she wanted to serve a mission, too. So, we started preparing. We signed up for a mission prep class, we started going to the temple and MTC's TRC weekly (and sometimes multiple-times-a-weekly). We read Preach My Gospel and the scriptures and were basically companions for six months before we turned 21. It was one of the funnest and most spiritual times of my life pretending like Lauren and I were missionary-companions-in-training. The way things worked out, Lauren got the ok to go on her mission and I was told by some doctors that I needed to wait a little while. Lauren being out there for those 18 months helped my spirits so much. She loved her mission and served the Lord with all her heart. She looks back and doesn't remember anything bad about it at all. She talks about her mission like it was one HUGE blessing. She's also been a wonderful support to me this last year as I've started preparing again to go back out on my mission. I've been so grateful for her telling me how much I'll love it and how I will be able to do the things that are asked of me. She and Kiera both have calmed many of my worries of inadequacy and unpreparedness. They're like my cheering squad and I've appreciated that tremendously.

So, on this Tenth day of Christmas, I'm truly grateful for:

Ten Sister Missionary Examples,

Nine Months in China and Nine Chinese Friends,

Eight Aunts, Eight Uncles, their Kids and their Kids' Kids,

Seven Pets, Past and Present,

Six Grandparents,

Five Nieces and Nephews,

Four Middle School Friends, Four High School Friends and Four China Friends,

Three Brothers, Three Sisters and Three Siblings-in-Law,

Two Loving Parents

One Promised King. Savior of the World.

Ninth Day of Christmas

2010-12-21T03:09:00.000-08:00

On the ninth day of Christmas I'm truly grateful for:

Nine months in China and nine Chinese friends.

I've lived in China twice, for about four and a half months each. Those nine months were some of the best months of my life. I feel like I learned more about life and myself in those nine months than I have in any given year of college. I've learned about love and patience and doing hard things and believing that I can do hard things and endurance and how communication doesn't have to be through words but can also be through service and happiness. Some of my favorite people couldn't speak a lick of English, yet they showed me they loved me through their temperament and their actions. I learned that my way isn't necessarily the best way and that different isn't necessarily wrong. Here's an entry from an old myspace blog that I wrote the night before I left China the first time:

Things I Don't Want to Forget About China

~Half of the sky at night is orange because of the lights in town.
~Every bike that passes has some sort of squeak or creak to it.
~When something is "clean", it's not really clean. It's less dirty.
~Showering is a chore. Though it feels good once you're in, it's hard to make yourself take one.
~All hard candy has a soft layer around it that you absolutely must bite through.
~Bikes can balance ANYTHING on the back of them. Even towers of Styrofoam.
~There's no such thing as a matching outfit.
~Tables don't have to be clean to eat off of them.
~Directions are only reliable 30% of the time.
~Schedules are more like guidelines.
~Answering machines are non-existent.
~No matter how scared you are on the road, you'll live through it. You're invincible.
~Time quickly flows at a slow pace.
~Strangers become friends in a smile.
~It's an oddity not to smoke.
~There's more parking for bikes and vespas than cars.
~Don't ever order water unless it's in a bottle. Otherwise it will be boiling hot.
~The honking of a horn doesn't necessarily mean "Watch Out!"
~Lines are for children and soldiers, no one else.
~The world is our toilet.
~You don't sit on the ground, that's dirty. You squat over it.
~Chewing with your mouth closed is a hassle and makes the food taste horrible.
~Refusing to buy a product at the given price will "braykuh" your salesperson's heart.
~White people are all millionaires.
~Telling someone you don't understand means that you will soon get the Chinese characters written in the air for you, thus enabling you to feel even more handicapped.
~Kobe Bryant, Yao Ming and Michael Jordan are more famous than George Bush and Chairman Mao.
~ McDonalds oddly enough tastes like Heaven.
~Pizza Hut is a sit down restaurant.
~Meat is REALLY fresh. Like, "Five minutes ago this was alive" fresh.
~People don't say "Thank you" or "I love you" to people they truly care about.
~You don't tip.
~Just like coughing or sneezing, when you laugh you must cover your mouth, especially girls.
~Nobody here is gay, but that doesn't stop anyone from large amounts of physical contact with people of the same sex.
~Sex is art, very graphic art that can be bought in the form of statue or tapestry.
~Taking things without asking is not impolite.
~Grocery stores with more than one floor have escalators that are not stairs, just moving walkways that slope upward. They are also magnetic so that your cart doesn't roll back and crush you.
~Children's shows are so violent that they would be rated "R" in America. And they don't have to end happily. (Ex: A woman bear gets beaten bloody and then burned to death while her husband tries to save her.)
~The best way to dry your clothes is to wear them.
~Most new foods taste horrible on the first bite, ok on the second and addicting on the third.

In Wuxi, I met up with Captain Planet and we had four months of bliss exploring and getting to know China. We decided that we would have a competition to become as Chinese as possible. We could get each other to do anything if we told them "You'd be so Chinese if you did that" or "That's so Chinese of you!" We ate a bunch of crazy things (like dog and turtle for example) and did gross but not really that gross if you're in China things (like spitting and squatting). We were celebrities wherever we went. People would line up to take pictures of us and pull our hair, "Why your hair yellow?" "Why your hair (then they'd make an "S" shape with their finger because they couldn't say curly). We traveled around the country together and explored our hometown of Wuxi together. We left our heart in Crazy Town with the people there, especially the people at the noodle shack. That little street in the fishing village will forever be my Chinese home.

In Xiaolan, I met "my girls" that were mine as a Head Teacher. We had a great time traveling around the southern part of China. We were a unique group because there were only a couple of us so we were each others' lifelines and family out there. I went through some crazy and stressful times there were I survived situations and pressures that I hadn't been prepared for and didn't think I was strong enough to endure. I was able to share a week with my parents showing them my beloved adopted country and the people in it. I got to meet up with friends from America while I was there my second time as well. I was able to visit the homes of my students and meet with their parents and see the sacrifices that their parents had made to enable their kids to have an education that involved English. I also got into Tai Ji and Kong Fu. I rode motorcycle taxis like nobody's business and became addicted to the thrill of the air in your hair and the rumbling ground beneath your feet. I rode a hot-air balloon at sunrise in one of the most magical places in the world, Guilin. My China experience would have been incomplete if I hadn't gone back that second time.

The nine months together were indescribable and vital for me in my personal growth and for amazing experiences.

Bridge in an old town

Buddha with Chris

Captain Planet

Pulling a cart

Part of Crazy Town

Lady sitting on me on a train

Hong Kong Disney

Ladies

Guilin (Yangshuo)

Handmade Fan Costume

Handmade Harry Plopper Costume

I was part of our Haunted House. The kids were TERRIFIED.

Hot Air Ballooning.

Before take-off

My Head Teacher blurb written by Sharon

Joshua, Kevin, Tim

Allison

I'm in that Balloon.

MONEY

Monkey

Moto-Taxi Love

Joshua, Josh and Brett

Puppy and Rebecca

Principal in the black and other teachers

Pigs.

Right before one of our many performances

Extreme Rapids

Jeff and Jeremy

Rice at the grocery store

Snake. MMmm.

Haha. Candy.

Smoothie ladies sweet little kids.

Being Chinese.

Soldier.

Bored Americans on the train. Making friends.

Turtle and snake soup.

Dancing with an old man on the street in Beijing.

Hangzhou with Elizabeth, Kiera, Marshall and a random man.

Friends at the Forbidden City.

Being Natives.

Xiaolan girls.

I met many people that touched my heart while I was in China. Nine people stick out as people that I miss still to this day and that I consider some of my best friends and in one case, my family.

To start out, here's a video of the Noodle Shack in Crazy Town (which is really a fishing village that we lived off of at our school. The village is on the outskirts of a small city (ONLY 5 million people live there) called Wuxi. In the video are Toby and Lloyd (we named them).

Re-furbished Noodle Shack

We ate there whenever we could and definitely spent the most time there of any other place in China besides where we lived. For some reason I can't find any pictures online of Toby so this is the only shot of him we have (my pictures from Wuxi are all lost on a hard drive somewhere, I cry if I think too long about it). Lloyd is in there as well.

Lloyd

Making...

... noodles

The one and only time he actually sat and ate with us was when we visited Wuxi a year later.

One night we asked him to give us Chinese names since we gave them American names (this was all through translators and our limited Chinese since he they didn't speak ANY English. Still, we all loved each other.

Me, Lloyd and Elizabeth a year after we left Wuxi

We could sit there and spend hours with them, neither side being able to say anything to the other, but communicating nonetheless. We would smile at each other or give each other gifts or show each other things from our own cultures. We didn't need words. We were a family. Anyways, as I was saying, Lloyd and Toby gave us names and mine included Lloyd's family name. He had someone translate for us that I was his niece now and he was my uncle. We were a family.

Brooke and Uncle Lloyd

It's one of the sweetest, most humbling moments of my life. I love that man and his assistant, Toby.

Zack was one of my students in Wuxi.

Sign for Smile

Teachers are liars when they say that they don't have favorite students. Now, I don't want you to think that I didn't love all of my students. I did. I loved them all A TON. But, I loved Zack the most.

Zack

Zack caught my heart early on with his mischievous smiles and faces he'd pull. He was sweet, but hilarious. He'd listen when I asked him to, but sometimes he needed reminding because he was so busy drawing robots that were destroying cities, or he was busy taunting the person next to him or he was busy cracking other kids up around him. Whenever I'd go tuck the kids in at night in their dorm rooms, Zack would be one of the first to tackle me and make me sit on his bed while he fought off the other kids that were trying to get my attention. I'd wait outside of his classroom late at night until 9 or 10 just to have him run out into my arms yelling, "Teacha!"

Love.

He was the sweetest, funniest kid and I miss him still.

Steve was a guy that one of my Head Teachers knew from her first time in China.

Jokesters.

We met up with him in Beijing and he showed us around some of the malls. Then he took us to KTV where we got our own room to do karaoke in.

Streets of Beijing

Helping me with some roller-skates that attach to shoes

He spoke wonderful English with a fabulous accent (the best I've ever heard on a Chinese person) and he had a real grasp on some of our phrases and idioms that are hard for lots of second-language-ers to get. When I asked him where he learned such amazing English he told me that he hadn't gone to a special school or anything but that he watched and studied American films and TV shows. After we met in Beijing, he came down a month or so later to Wuxi to see us. While there, he asked me about our church and wanted to know about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. At first he was offended when I told him I wasn't allowed to tell him anything, but I think he finally got that I wanted to, but couldn't. I just hope that if he ever does get a chance to hear about our church in a legal way, that he will.

Lucas was the boy that I named after my friend back home.

Lucas in my glasses

He was a student of mine in Xiaolan which was where I head taught. Lucas transferred to our school the second week we were there. I was convinced that he had an English speaker in his home because he caught on to everything so quickly and he would use vocabulary that we didn't push real hard in our lessons. When I met his parents and realized they didn't speak any English, we figured out how incredibly smart this little kid was. He could pick up things that we as teachers would say to each other and figure out their meaning and use them in perfect grammar and sentences weeks later. He was a little too smart for his own good and would get bored in class and would act up just so that the teacher would have to call me into her classroom to take him out. I was in charge of getting kids to behave. Lucas learned that quickly and also knew that he was my favorite so he would act up just so that we could hang out and play for a couple minutes. I would try to be mad at him and discipline him, but he was just too hilarious and adorable to be mad at for long.

Taking pictures during time-out

For instance, if they were being too loud and not listening to their teacher, I'd take them outside and make them watch my watch for sixty seconds being completely silent. Lucas would count as the seconds ticked by. He'd count to sixty and I'd try to stop him and he'd keep going till he reached one hundred. Keep in mind this boy was three years old.

Being angry that Johnson tried to sit on my lap, too

Lucas had a rat tail that I would twirl between my fingers as he sat on my lap (which was usually our compromise if he'd be good for his teacher). Ugh. I love that boy.

Minnie and Hebe were the local kids in Xiaolan that didn't go to our school, but who were our friends.

Minnie, Hebe and some other local kids

They saw us coming home one day and stopped us to try out their English on us. They had both picked out their names themselves. (Hebe had no idea that her name wasn't English, she thought it sounded English, so she chose it). There would be nights when I'd be sitting up in my apartment which was several stories off the ground and I'd hear "Bu-roo-kuh! Bu-roo-kuh!" I'd go to my window and there would be Minnie and Hebe.

Minnie and Hebe

As soon as they saw me there they'd do something funny or special that they had planned for me like set off fireworks or do a dance.

Walking to the mall with Minnie

I'd go downstairs and we'd talk and they'd make me laugh with the words they wanted to learn. One time I called them crazy and wanted to know how to tell them that in Chinese. So we did what we usually did where we tried to communicate the words we wanted to learn. I told them that it was "crazy" in English. They told me what it was in Chinese "shen jing bing". Later I used the word with another friend I met and found out that while "crazy" can be used in extreme ways but also in a playful way, "shen jing bing" is offensive and means that the person should be locked up forever. I felt pretty stupid. Haha. Sometimes we'd play basketball or ping pong with the local kids and Minnie and Hebe.

Ice cream with Hebe

The day that I left Xiaolan, they followed me and Hebe gave me her key chain that she used that had a bear flashlight on it. It was the sweetest thing.

Sharon was our English coordinator.

Sharon

She had pretty awful English and most of the time I did the translating myself. She didn't ever get anything done that we needed and we were roped into things that weren't in our contract on a daily basis. BUT, she was a great, sweet person who tried hard. She had some of the hairiest legs I've ever seen (not a big deal in China) and she wore shorts every day. She was one of those people whose accent had hard "r"s on the end of every English word she said. "Er, der yer warnt ter ger ter ther sterr?" ("Do you want to go to the store?") She would be there as a translator for Miranda and me during our lessons with Gong Laoshi and for that I'm very grateful.

Friends

One of my favorite memories of Sharon was during this sports competition she signed me up for. During a break she told me she'd been watching the OC or some show like that and was wondering what the difference was between "a beetch and a beetch" (one of those was supposed to be "beach", the other was a female dog...) It was hilarious.

Gong Laoshi was our Tai Ji/Kong Fu master. He was the love of my life pretty much.

Love of my life

He had gross teeth and always had a wad of chew on his gums.

Love of my life

He smoked before and after each lesson. He couldn't speak English at all (he finally learned the words "circle", "slow", "Miranda" and "Brooke" for teaching purposes which was adorable.

Love of my life

He was calm and confident and shy and patient. He always smelled like barbecue sauce. He had swoopy hair and long fingernails and a little Vespa that he'd take me home from our lessons on (Miranda usually rode with one of his friends). I looked forward to all of our lessons with him because he was just the biggest sweetheart man. I gained a real love for the art of Tai Ji because of him

Love. Of. My. Life.

and Sharon being willing to teach us those many long nights and hot days. Gong Laoshi means "Teacher Gong" or "Mr. Gong". His real name is Gong Xiaolong which means Little Dragon Gong or Snake Gong.(He was born in the year of the snake (Gong is his family name or last name in American terms).) Not only is he the coolest person I know, he also has the coolest name ever. If I ever adopt a Chinese baby, which is a goal of mine, I want to name the baby Xiaolong.

So, on this Ninth day of Christmas, I'm truly grateful for:

Nine Months in China and Nine Chinese Friends,

Eight Aunts, Eight Uncles, their Kids and their Kids' Kids,

Seven Pets, Past and Present,

Six Grandparents,

Five Nieces and Nephews,

Four Middle School Friends, Four High School Friends and Four China Friends,

Three Brothers, Three Sisters and Three Siblings-in-Law,

Two Loving Parents

One Promised King. Savior of the World.

Eighth Day of Christmas

2010-12-20T10:30:00.000-08:00

On the eighth day of Christmas I'm truly grateful for:

Eight aunts and eight uncles, their spouses, their kids and their kids' kids.

My mom has one brother and four sisters. My dad has one brother and two sisters. Since they're all married I also have four uncles and one aunt from my mom's side and one aunt and two uncles from my dad's side. On my mom's side I have 21 cousins. On my dad's side I have 6 cousins. Out of those 27 cousins, I have 4 little second cousins. And that's not even counting my step-aunts, uncles, cousins and second-cousins. I've been blessed with so many wonderful people in my life that I get to call family. I've made so many wonderful memories with these great people. Here are a few memories that stand out right now: putting make-up on Gr'pa while he pretended to be asleep, Christmas dinner at Grandma's, the cabin up in Flagstaff, Scott and Patty's wedding, Aspen Grove, Trips to California, Grandma and Grandpa's plaid carpet, 50th Anniversary at Disneyland, wedding musicals.

Here are some pictures of these lovely people:

Kevin and Susan and their kids

From Left: Adriana, Alexis, Weston, Zane, Little Zane, Kevin, Susan, Lauren, Colin, Abigail, Allison, Jenny and Cameron at Colin's wedding

Suzanne and Ken and their kids

Aunt Suzanne with Uncle Ken who we love and miss so much

Suzanne, Emma and Kate at Paige's wedding

Shelley and Mike and their kids

Shelley, Mike, Spencer, Clark, Lauren, Anne, Matthew, Mindy, Baby Opal and (and Mindy pregnant with Elias) when Clark got home from his mission in Scotland

Kristen and Eric and their kids

Adam, Kristen, Baby Tate, Eric, Carter and Alex at Aspen Grove

Amy and Nathan and their kids

Amy looking gorgeous right after giving birth to India with Ava, Elle, Nathan and Rock

Scott and Patty and Summer

Patty, Scott and their dogs

Scott's daughter Summer with her mom, Deanna

Syd and Bob and their kids

Syd and Corey in a dress she made herself in school

Corey, Katie (Bob's daughter), Braden, Tyler and Bob

Marianne and Larry and her kids

Spencer, Marianne, Katherine, Alex and Larry singing karaoke at Scott and Patty's housewarming party

And here's some proof that I actually know some of these people

Most of us at Paige's wedding

FAO Schwarts

I put this up because of Ana's face in the background

Disneyland

Scott and Patty's wedding

Me and Colin making cute faces

Picnic

So, on this Eighth day of Christmas, I'm truly grateful for:

Eight Aunts, Eight Uncles, their Kids and their Kids' Kids,

Seven Pets, Past and Present,

Six Grandparents,

Five Nieces and Nephews,

Four Middle School Friends, Four High School Friends and Four China Friends,

Three Brothers, Three Sisters and Three Siblings-in-Law,

Two Loving Parents

One Promised King. Savior of the World.

Seventh Day of Christmas

2010-12-19T07:46:00.000-08:00

On the seventh day of Christmas I'm truly grateful for:

Seven pets, past and present.

Cotton is the first pet my family ever had. She was a mutt that we got from the pound. She was all white and had one eye that was blue and one eye that was brown.

She sort of looked like this...

...with eyes like this.

I was really young when we had her. Mostly what I remember is how Joel and Derek could get her to chase her tail in circles. She'd run around and around and around trying to get a hold of it. She was a sweet and rambunctious dog. One day Derek and Joel took her for a walk. She broke free of her leash and ran out in the street as a car was coming. It ran over her and the people in it didn't even stop or slow down or anything after. They just kept on driving. My sobbing brothers had to carry her back to our house. She was put to sleep later that night. Sad.

Next came Domino. She was also a mutt we got from the pound.

She sort of looked like this, and was definitely as naughty as this.

She was a crazy dog. Once our cats came along, she was best friends with one of them and mortal enemies with the other one. She was a very sweet dog but was also very rambunctious. One day she got out of our gate and never came back. We put up signs everywhere, but never heard anything so we gave up hope. Then, months and months later, maybe even a year later, we got her back. We were bringing in groceries from the car so our door to our garage was open. Between everyone walking back and forth, there was suddenly a dog in our house barking and jumping all over Derek. We were startled and I was scared until Derek started laughing and crying and saying, "It's Domino! It's Domino!" What the? She was back. The next day a boy who was probably somewhere in age between Derek and me knocked on our door telling us his dog had run away and he was looking for her. He had a flyer with a picture of Domino and him on it. We told him that Domino was actually ours. He kept calling her some weird name like Jennifer or something like that. It was kind of an awkward situation to both be claiming ownership of this dog. We ended up keeping Domino and Johnny was really sad. He was an only child and loved that dog. Over the next couple months Domino would run away to Johnny's house and then run back from Johnny's house to ours. She couldn't make up her mind. Finally, we decided that Johnny needed her more than we did and let him keep her there for good.

Penny is the cat that I got to name.

She was so pretty and elegant

Her full name was Penguin, but we called her Penny for short. Penny truly had nine lives. She was the runt of her litter and was really small. She somehow survived being run over by my mom's car (she had a bald spot there for the rest of her life), being smashed in the garage door twice, and getting into tons of fights with other cats. By the sounds of it you'd think she was one of those mean and nasty cats that doesn't like anyone, but it was the exact opposite.

Notice her bald spot

She'd cuddle with anyone who wanted to. She was the sweetest with little kids. She'd let you tug her around by her tail, put doll clothes on her and even drop her from the balcony and she'd never get hissy or scratchy. She was also a master huntress. She'd hide in the tops of our trees in our backyard and wait for a bird to fly by and then LEAP out of the tree and smack the bird out of the air. She was constantly bringing us birds and little rodents and things. She had about six or seven litters of kittens, too. She was the All-American house-cat.

Sphynx was a kitten from Penny's first litter of kittens.

Baby Spynx

He was a huge Siamese-colored cat. He wasn't just fat, but he was built large. He and Domino were besties while Domino lived with us. Unlike his petite mother, Sphynx wasn't brave at all. Even as an adult, if he saw a snail on the cement, he'd run away screaming and wait for Penny to come by and take care of it. He wasn't the docile sweetheart that Penny was with kids, but he was pretty close. He'd let you poke him and prod him and cut off one side of his whiskers and stuff him in an empty tennis ball container and roll him down the stairs in it. The only difference was that he'd let you know he was mad. He wouldn't scratch or bite but he'd yell at you. His ears would go down and he'd show you his teeth and let out a low, sharp yell. But once you got over how intimidating it was and realized that he was just a big baby, everything was ok. Sadly, I acquired an extreme allergy to cats once I was about thirteen or fourteen and we had to give the cats away so that I could open my eyes and breathe.

When I was in about 8th grade, our family got a little dog that was 3/4 Lhasa Apso and 1/4 Toy Poodle. He basically looked like a teeny Golden Retriever puppy that would never grow up.

He wasn't quite this white and you could see his eyes

We got him as a family dog and all decided on the name Homer. But after that he sort of turned into my dog. He'd sleep with me and shadow me and basically do everything that I did when I was home. It even got to the point where I was the one who fed him and cleaned up after him because he was so much mine. We were best friends. A couple years later, someone left the door open and he got out of the house for the first time without his leash. He had his tags on, but that was pointless. He was so cute that there's no way he would have been returned if someone found him. I put up signs for months and prayed and cried about it, but we never saw him again. My only consolation is that he probably didn't die but was taken in because he was so cute and well-mannered. He was a great, great friend.

A couple years ago all Rex asked for for Christmas was a dog. That's all he wanted. That's all any of us wanted for him. He and Nina didn't really remember any of the other pets we'd had and we wanted them to know the love that animals can bring to you as a kid. My mom was hesitant because of the training and commitment it would mean. Plus, she knew how hard it is to lose a pet, but with the encouragement and begging of my dad and my siblings and me, she caved. After we had opened all of our Christmas presents and Rex hadn't seen a dog, he was trying his hardest not to seem disappointed. He was smiling and saying how great everything was, but you could tell he had hoped he'd have a dog more than any of those other presents combined. Then there was a ring at the doorbell. We told Rex to answer it. When he opened the door there was a little black puppy, all alone with a big bow on her collar and a note attached to it. He immediately started crying and asking whose puppy that was. He picked it up as we tried reading it to him but were all crying too much to get anything out. Finally, Joel was able to get through the note telling Rex that the puppy was his. Rex named her Dahlia Noel (and later Gasol) Nelson. She's a little brat, but she's also a sweetheart.

On Christmas the day we got her

She loves to be held and paid attention to. And I've never seen another dog do this, but she loves to be held with her back down and her head facing the ceiling like a little baby. She'll put her paw on your neck when you hold her that way to show that she loves you and is happy you're holding her. It's the cutest thing ever. In all reality, I don't think she knows that she's a dog. She jumps and climbs like she's a cat and expects to be treated like a human baby.

Thinking she's human

She's a great addition to our family. We all love her a lot. She and my dad are especially BFF's lately. And she's great with the grandkids. Miles absolutely adores her. And she doesn't ever bark or snap at them as they tackle her and sit on her and drag her around.

Last but not least is my baby, Nemo.

Nemo's family before I became his family

In case you've forgotten about how we came to be a family, here's a link to the earlier post I did about him. Nemo is my little miracle baby. I know he's only a fish, but he's also the only pet that I could sit and watch for hours and hours doing nothing more than swimming back and forth and being my miracle. I love Nemo so much. Sometimes I just want to hold him close to me and kiss him. Then I remember that he'd probably die if I did that, so I take my hand out of the tank and dry it off and start staring at him again instead. He's the greatest.

Nemo's first birthday

I can't wait to celebrate his second birthday next Cinco de Mayo.

So, on this Seventh day of Christmas, I'm truly grateful for:

Seven Pets, Past and Present,

Six Grandparents,

Five Nieces and Nephews,

Four Middle School Friends, Four High School Friends and Four China Friends,

Three Brothers, Three Sisters and Three Siblings-in-Law,

Two Loving Parents

One Promised King. Savior of the World.

Sixth Day of Christmas

2010-12-18T19:18:00.000-08:00

On the sixth day of Christmas I'm truly grateful for:

Six grandparents.

Grandma Bonnie and Grandpa Rex

Grandpa Jack and Grandma Marian (with my cousin, Alex)

Gr'pa Buck and Gr'ma Frankie (with me, Paige, Derek, Linds and Nix)

Gr'pa Buck and Gr'ma Frankie are my dad's dad and step-mom. His name isn't really Buck (but hers really is Frankie). My Gr'pa's real name is Erven, just like my dad's and just like my gr'pa's dad. I didn't know that until I was probably six or seven though because we've always called him Buck. Gr'pa was an opthamologist until he retired. For a long time he lived in Las Vegas and we'd always go over to his place for a Christmas Eve party. I always looked forward to them because I got to open an early present and Gr'ma always had the most beautiful gingerbread houses all lit up that I would sit and stare at. They've always, ALWAYS signed their cards with the apostrophes in them. I've never seen them spell out "grandpa" or "grandma", always "Gr'pa and Gr'ma". Gr'pa goes by Buck because he loves everything cowboy.

Gr'pa's Birthday party

Their house is like walking into a cozy ranch house with all of it's cowboy memorabilia. My favorite thing about Gr'pa's house has always been his human-sized slot machine that is shaped like a cowboy. His arm has a gun in it pointed at the sky until you pull it down and it points at you. Then the wheels start spinning and you see if you're going to win any nickels. Gr'pa's sister, AJ, is the one that I've been living with this last semester and loved so much.

Grandma Marian and Grandpa Jack are my dad's mom and step-dad.

Grandma Marian and Grandpa Jack at Paige's wedding

My Grandma is a very elegant and classy lady. She's always wearing the prettiest tops and jewelry. She speaks with impeccable grammar and is knowledgeable on any subject you can think of. One thing I've always loved about my grandma is her love for reading. She has enough books in her house to start a library. She has closets and rooms and boxes and a garage full of the books that she's read. If I ever can't find a book at a store or the library, I'd be willing to bet that my grandma has it. I have very fond memories of Stouffer's Macaroni and Cheese and Squirt when I think of being at grandma's house. That's was our staple differ when she was watching us. Grandma is also a beautifully talented pianist and organist. She's just so very accomplished in so many things. She met Jack a couple years back and being the lively spirit that she is, they eloped. The first time I ever met Jack she introduced him to me as her "friend" when in reality he was her husband and she just didn't have the nerve to tell us yet. Jack is a great guy. Hayley and I have talked with him about his service in the Second World War and I've gained a great appreciation for the brave and honorable man he is. He loves Grandma very much and is a big sweetheart wanting to keep up with everyone on email and facebook.

Grandpa Rex and Grandma Bonnie are my mom's parents.

Grandpa Rex and Grandma Bonnie at Paige's wedding

I have so many wonderful memories with them. They've taught me a lot about love and devotion to God and to family. They're very fun to be around and care very much about keeping up with the lives of each of their children and grandchildren. My Grandpa Rex is the most patient, humble and Christ-like man I know. He genuinely loves and sees the best in everyone he meets. One time he told me that when I interact with people I need to assume that no matter what their problems or faults are that they are doing the best that they can. Only when someone is trying their hardest can they be open to change and improvement. Only then can you work together. I love that he told me to do that because I know that that must be his philosophywhen he interacts with others. My grandpa made up this bed-time story called "Pinky the Elephant" that has a great moral and a fun song that goes along with it. It's a family tradition when you're a little child to have him tell it to you before you go to sleep on nights that you're staying with him and Grandma. Grandpa also coined the phrase, "I love you and I beat you to it." If you can ever say it to him before he does, it's a triumph. My Grandma Bonnie is the most organized and thoughtful person I've ever met. She never forgets a birthday or Christmas or Valentine's Day or Halloween. She'll always have sweet card that has my name written in her perfect hand-writing. The gifts she gets me are always things that I can tell were picked out with me in mind. Grandma has a big heart and would do anything for her family. I don't have a middle name and when I was a little girl I decided that my middle name would be Bonnie after Grandma Bonnie because of the great and valuable person she is to me.

So, on this Sixth day of Christmas, I'm truly grateful for:

Six Grandparents,

Five Nieces and Nephews,

Four Middle School Friends, Four High School Friends and Four China Friends,

Three Brothers, Three Sisters and Three Siblings-in-Law,

Two Loving Parents

One Promised King. Savior of the World.

Fifth Day of Christmas

2010-12-17T21:01:00.000-08:00

On the fifth day of Christmas I'm truly grateful for:

Five nieces and nephews.

From top: Nixon, Miles and Lorenzo

From left: Lily and Violet

My favorite thing about my life is being an aunt. I remember people talking about how much they loved their nieces and nephews and thinking that it would be cool, but since they're not your own kids, it's really not that cool...

Cool train ride.

Cool lipstick done herself

Cool ride waiting for a real ride at Disneyland

Cool kisses.

Cool hat

Cool self-made stuffed animals

Cool bib

Cool faries

I was completely wrong.

I'll spend hours thinking about them. Just thinking about them. If I wasn't worried about coming off as annoying and self-centered (... ok, moreso than I already do), I'd be constantly talking about how awesome my little kiddies are. They're so awesome. They're so awesome. They're so awesome. They really are the sweetest, funniest, funnest, beautiful-est kids in the world.

Nixon is hilarious.

Playing pirates

He's way too smart to only be four.

Playing pirates... again

And he says things how they are. Tonight he wanted to play this game that we made up called "Doctor" where he basically tells me a part of his body that is broken and I tickle it to make it better. I got distracted by the many other things going on in the room and a couple minutes later he called my name again and when I went over he said, "Brooke, when I ask my mom for more ice cream and she says no, then we can play doctor. OK?" Haha. So a couple minutes later when his mom said he couldn't have more ice cream, we played doctor.

Thumbs up. I love this picture.

Nixon was a baby throughout my second year at BYU.

My Boo-boos

During the winter I would bug Derek and Lindsey to be able to come over there and play with my "Boo-boos" as I liked to call him. He was THE ray of sunshine that got me through those drowning, dreary, days of the winter.

Gorgeous little boy

I would just hold him and sing to him and soak up all the happiness I could. That's when I discovered how truly magical it was to be an aunt.

Then came Lily.

Lily-Pad

The princess of all princesses.

Paige's wedding

Lily is the happiest little girl with the bubbliest personality and expressions. She opens her eyes and turns her head and talks every sentence like a Welch's commercial child.

Owl?

She's the perfect mix of temperament, gorgeousness and animation. I'm not sure she knows how old she is. She thinks she's an adult.

Wearing my glasses

But not in a bratty way, just in a way where she can interact with people without having to act like a baby. She's the perfect little Nelson kid who adores anything and everything Disney and could quote any movie backwards. A couple months ago as we were watching Peter Pan (she was in full Tinkerbell attire, including wings), "You Can Fly" came on. She stood up and put her arms in the air like an airplane and shouted sincerely and excitedly, "I can fly! I can fly!" and proceeded to fly around the room for the remainder of the song.

Tinkerbell

She's an angel.

Miles, oh Miles.

Pirate Miles

I just always want to be squeezing Miles.

Frustrated and crying... and adorable

Whenever I think of him I instantly get a visual of his posture as he walks. He waddles side to side instead of walking upright.

His Godfather shot

In Florida

I'm not sure if it's because of that or not, but his head is always tilted and he gets bashful really easily so he'll smile and look down with those big brown eyes and giggle in that low giggle of his. He's the sweetest, loviest baby. He's obsessed with dogs and will spend twenty minutes patiently trying to get Dahlia to calm down long enough for him to rest his head on her and hug her. He's just full of love and not afraid to show his affection. He's also a big boy. If you ever have food in your hands and he's anywhere in his sights, he'll stop what he's doing and come up to you and wait for you to give him some of whatever you have. When Derek and Lindsey asked him what he was most grateful for this last Thanksgiving he thought for a second, smiled and then said, "Food."

Happy with ice cream

Happy with an Oreo

Happy with cake

Violet, the smiley baby.

All Violet does is smile.

With Papa

Being bashful

Sometimes, if she's really excited, she'll squeal and kick her chubby legs, but her life revolves around being happy and making others happy when they're around her. She's the perfect proportions and body type for hugging and holding.

Being a model

Happy fairy

She's gorgeous. And she doesn't ever get angry or fussy.

At the hospital, still happy

I love her name. She fits it perfectly. She's happy like a flower and beautiful like a rich purple.

With her daddy

Lorenzo, the newborn.

Enzo

Enzo is a sweetheart. His eyes are always WIDE open and he's very alert, watching things around him like he doesn't want to miss a thing.

Wide-eyed with some lady I don't know

He'll just sit there as his older brothers smother him with kisses and hugs. He's already the apple of Nixon's eye who is constantly saying, "Isn't my little brother so cute?"

Sleeping like a baby

Yes, he is.

I know there are tons of pictures, but I don't care.
They're my favorite. I love them.

So, on this Fifth day of Christmas, I'm truly grateful for:

Five Nieces and Nephews,

Four Middle School Friends, Four High School Friends and Four China Friends,

Three Brothers, Three Sisters and Three Siblings-in-Law,

Two Loving Parents

One Promised King. Savior of the World.

Fourth Day of Christmas

2010-12-16T16:00:00.000-08:00

On the fourth day of Christmas I'm truly grateful for:

Four Middle School friends, four High School friends and four China friends.

Every chapter of my life I've had friends there who have become my second family. Here are three sets of important people in those very important growing and learning chapters of my life:

The O4

Brynn, Amy, Brooke, Brandi and Matt Martelli pretending to be Jen.

The "O4" or "Original Four" started out as Brynn, Amy, Brandi and I.

Such a fashonista, I made a shirt for Brynn in Christmas of 8th Grade

Brynn and I had been best friends since we could remember (my earliest memory of Brynn is when we got stuck in the sprinklers in her backyard and didn't know where to run because we were up against a fence and didn't want to run through them to the house so we sat there, being rained down on and cried as loud as we could until we were saved by Brynn's laughing mother), but we had never been able to go to the same school till that first day of 6th grade at Faith Lutheran where we met Amy and Brandi. We were instantly four best friends. We had sleepovers and knew each other's secrets and we were by far the coolest people we knew. In 7th grade Jennifer transferred to our school. Even though we were a completely exclusive club and could obviously only have four members due to our name, we allowed Jen into our group based on the fact that she was actually as cool as us. So, the O4 became a five person club about four people. We've been a beautiful contradiction since.
We laughed and gossiped and liked boys and then hated those boys we once liked and then liked those boys again. We celebrated milestones together, we mourned the loss of a friend together. We started the journey of adolescence together.We became our own little patch of sisters at that school. We were 11 when we met. Now we're all either 23 or 24. We've known each other for over half of our lives. It's been great. We've all gone our separate ways and lived our own lives, but we still keep in touch. When we were 12 and transportation-less, we'd get our parents to drop us off at Mimi's Cafe and we'd dine together like the grown-ups we thought we were. Now that we are technically grown-ups, we've kept the tradition alive. Once a year we get together at Mimi's and try eating our food we've ordered between the loads and loads of catching up we do.

Brynn, Brandi, Brooke, Amy and Jen

Bengals

My first day of High School I was convinced that I'd be thrown in a trash can or locked in a locker. I was terrified. I had transferred from a private school and didn't know anyone at Bonanza. My mom had set up a carpool for seminary with some other kids in my class. One of those kids was some red-head named Michael. Since we were sort of forced into saying hi when we saw each other later that day, we decided to get lunch together. Being oblivious Freshman, we took too long at lunch and ended up getting locked out of the welcome assembly. Not knowing what else to do, we sat out in the shade and tried to find common ground. Harry Potter came up rather quickly. We've been best friends ever since.

Freshman year of college

Once Michael and I established our friendship, I reconnected with an old friend from softball named Carly. Soon after I reconnected with another old friend, Elizabeth. And then we added Brynn into the mix for good measure. Four years flew by with these four friends by my side. Other friends... and boyfriends... came in and out of focus in those years, but these four were my constants. From school dances to school plays, from Lake trips to our Senior trip be gave ourselves to see Wicked in LA, from passing notes to passing driving tests, from crisis and catastrophe to adventure and euphoria. You only have one high school experience, and when I look back I'm thrilled to say that I made mine with those four. Luckily, most of us have lived in either Vegas or Utah since high school so we get to see each other a lot. Our friendships didn't end after we graduated, like so many of my other high school friendships did. I'm very grateful for that.

Michael's farewell

Hanging out on the Strip

I probably said something really funny right before this was taken

Sadies Senior year

I promise we're not as dramatic as we look

Captain Planet

Moving to China was the boldest/most exciting/most rewarding/best thing I've ever done. For some reason halfway through my Freshman year of college I felt like I needed to go teach English in a foreign country. It was a specific and kind of random prompting that I didn't understand (I know why now it was because it was going to be the perfect thing for me). Through a series of fortunate events, six months later I put on the bravest face I could as I hugged my mom goodbye at the airport, wondering what I had gotten myself into. Thankfully, I had gotten my bestie Elizabeth, from high school, to come along with me. I'm not sure if it's because we're both hilarious or if we were both scared out of our wits, but as soon as we met up at our gate, we were at ease. We were more than at ease. We were completely in our own world where all we cared about was making ourselves laugh and having a good time. Within our first week in China, we had made enemies with everyone in our group. We were the loud, obnoxious girls who sang on the top of their lungs and laughed at things that didn't make sense to other people. After our first week of bliss in our beloved Zhonggua (China), we decided that we'd better try and make friends with some of the other forty people we had to live with for the next four months. After one huge and miserably failed attempt at making friends in the lunchroom one day where we ended up eating alone at the largest table in there while everyone else crowded six and eight people into four-people tables just to avoid us, we were down-trodden. We decided to lay low for a while and try not to be so into how awesome we were and meet people on an individual level. We went that night into our head teacher's room and tried playing cards with a couple of the people that were in there. That's where we met Kiera. After we tricked Kiera into thinking we weren't as bad as we had seemed at first, she helped us trick Amanda and Krystal into being our friends, too. We made other friends more easily after that, but the five of us girls, later named "Captain Planet" became inseparable and on some occasions were even slandered as "exclusive". There's no way to even come close to listing everything we shared or explain everything we experienced there, but I want it known that those four months of my life were the four best months of my life, and those four girls will always be the only people who will be able to understand and relate to me when I talk about the time we spent there. We were in a foreign place with foreign and exciting experiences and all we had to share them with were each other. From sneaking out so that we could practice our OK Go treadmill dance (without the treadmills), to Gilmore Girls, to the overwhelming Guilin vacation, to our Rock Band and I Hate Kiera Clubs, to Crazy Town and the Noodle Shack, to our Hallway competition, to our outfits that we got together, to so much more. Women shi hao pengyou. Wo ai ni. We're the best of friends. I love you.

After singing for karaoke for that crowd of people in Guilin

Swimming in the mud caves

We have one of us posing, but this suits us better

So, on this Fourth day of Christmas, I'm truly grateful for:

Four Middle School Friends, Four High School Friends and Four China Friends,

Three Brothers, Three Sisters and Three Siblings-in-Law,

Two Loving Parents

One Promised King. Savior of the World.

Third Day of Christmas

2010-12-15T22:11:00.000-08:00

On the third day of Christmas I'm truly grateful for:

Three brothers, three sisters and three siblings-in-law.

Three Handsome Brothers: Joel, Rex and Derek

Three beautiful sisters: Paige, Nina and Hayley

1st Sib-in-law: Valerie with Joel

2nd Sib-in-law: Lindsey with Derek

3rd Sib-in-law: Nick with Paige

Where to begin?

Growing up, my parents always told us kids that we could have friends but that our best friends were our siblings. And luckily enough, we all are.

I get a kick out of and want to keep up with every one of my brothers and sisters.

I can't think of any people I'd rather be stuck with for forever. I've had the best childhood and no-longer-a-childhood because I've grown up with and made my memories with my family.

No one can make me crack up as much as my family. No one can make me as happy as my family. They've pulled me out of dark situations and been the highlights of my happiest days.

Here they are in particular order (oldest to youngest):

Joel- My oldest brother. I've always felt like he'd do anything for me. One time when I was 13, I was stranded on the strip. Joel's band was performing that night and I wouldn't have called him but our parents were out of town and I was pretty scared. Joel dropped everything to race to my rescue. He told me to stay where I was and not to worry. What should have been a thirty minute drive took Joel fifteen minutes. He ran every light to get to me as quickly as possible. When I hopped into his white Jeep, I apologized for making him leave his party. He brushed the apology aside and told me that didn't matter and that he was just glad that I was ok. That's just one of many times where Joel has shown me that he'll always be there for me in the very second that I need him. Joel has also been someone I've looked up to because he works hard all the time. He doesn't have an ounce of lazy in him. And when he stumbles, he picks himself back up and becomes better than he was before. He makes things completely right again. He's incredibly humble.

Val- Joel's wife. I'm so glad that Joel found someone who is not only gorgeous, but who also miraculously thinks Joel is funny even when he's making creepy faces and dancing moving only his shoulders... I love Val for her advice and for the way she loves my nieces and my brother. And I love that she now sings more than she talks. (One of the biggest signs of a true Nelson.)

Derek- My older brother. Derek has always been able to get me to do anything for him. Not that he was very withholding or anything, but I just thought that he was so cool that to be involved in anything that he or Joel was doing was the highest honor. When I was in about 6th grade, I got a knock on my door one night and Derek came in and closed the door after him. He quietly asked me if I would help him bleach his hair, but said we'd have to do it a little later so that mom wouldn't find out because she'd freak out and say no if she knew our plans. He told me he'd come back in a little while once the coast was clear. That half hour or so that I waited seemed like it would never end! I could hardly sit still, waiting for him to come get me. ME. He had asked me to help him bleach his hair. That night is the coolest I've ever been or felt. Derek has overcome some trials that I've had as well. I've told myself that if Derek can do it, so can I. He has a quieter exterior than some of us Nelsons, but he's as tender as the rest of us. One day we got in a fight when I was really little and I told him I hated him. Derek got emotional and told me that no matter what I did, he would never hate me. That's stuck with me. I've never said anything that mean to someone I care about since that day. He's been a great example of unconditional love.

Lindsey- Derek's wife. I've never met someone as genuinely nice as Lindsey. She's nice to everyone she meets. She looks people right in the eye and you can tell she sincerely cares about them. She's also such an on-top-of-it mom who tells my brother and my nephews how much she loves them. Not only is she gorgeous, but she's a sweetheart of a person.

Paige- My closest sibling in age. Paige has taken a lot of teasing from me and for the most part, has taken it really well. Paige and I are the most opposite out of the seven of us kids. People would find out that we were sisters in high school and they wouldn't believe us. I think sometimes our differences have been subjects of tension between us, but I also think that those differences make us love each other a lot. Paige makes me laugh harder than anyone I know. She has a very tender heart. She cries more than I do... which is hard to do. She's gorgeous. Gorgeous, gorgeous. We've been through everything together. Everything. My most embarrassing moments of my life were both made and filmed with her. I'm so proud of the woman that she has become. I'd also like to take this opportunity to publicly apologize for the time that I tricked her into biting my arm by telling her that it wouldn't hurt me and that I wouldn't tell on her and then turned around and told on her. She got sent to time out. And it didn't hurt me, but I told mom that it did. I'm sorry, Paige. I hope you can forgive me.

Nick- Paige's husband. Nick is such a great friend full of advice and support. He came into Paige's life and showed her and me how there really are good guys with good intentions who are fun and intelligent that live in Provo. I'm so grateful for the way that he treats and appreciates Paige. And he has already learned how to speak our "peshul" Sis language, which is promising for future Nelson quirks that he has yet to encounter.

Hayley- My little sister. Hayley has always been someone who stands firm in her convictions. Once she's set her mind on something, she doesn't do it halfway; she commits. Even though she's five years younger than I am, I've looked up to her many times as I've learned about her integrity all throughout middle school and high school, how she didn't care who thought what, she was going to do what she thought was the right thing to do. Hayley has always been a fireball and I'm very glad that growing up we had Paige as the buffer between us because I got to be the bystander and sometimes supporter as she took out her rage on Paige. Nowadays she's very laid back and will do whatever you ask her, even if it's ridiculous and selfish of you. She's a groovy dancer, too.

Rex- My little angel brother. I was twelve when Rex was born. My school was under construction so I had two weeks at home when the rest of my siblings were away all day so I got to help my mom with my newborn brother. I feel like Rex is my own little baby in a lot of ways. I know that's crazy, but it's how I feel. Rex is truly an angel. Once a couple years ago there was a boy who would hit Rex and take his backpack away and call him mean names. Nina told my mom about it and when my mom told him it was ok to fight back a little and stick up for himself Rex said, "I know. I've tried to fight back. But I just can't. No matter what I do I just can't bring myself to hurt someone." Angel, I tell you. Even though he is now twelve and passing the sacrament and in middle school, he still literally jumps into my arms and breaks a disc or two in my back every time I come home to Vegas. I gripe and complain about it, but I hope he is always that excited to see me.

Nina- My spunky littlest sister. Oh Nina AKA Tina AKA TNT AKA Teen. Nina is an 18 years old stuck in a 10 year-old's body. She is so advanced in so many ways for her age. She understands comedy and relationships and people much more than most kids freshly out of high school do. She has the best laugh. And she's fiercely loyal. She and Rex can't stand to be away from each other. When he goes on camp-outs or she goes to visit our cousin up in Utah, they miss each other like crazy. When Rex had that bully a couple years ago and Rex told my mom he couldn't hurt anyone, Nina piped up, "Don't worry, Mom. I hit that kid back. I picked up a stick and hit him and said, 'You don't hurt my brother like that!'" Oh man, she's hilarious. And every year for Christmas or my birthday, she has picked out not only one gift, but multiple gifts for me, things she saw that reminded her of me. She's precious.

Whew. My fingers are cramping a little. But there you have them: my wonderful, funny, loyal, protective, angelic, beautiful, handsome, brave, strong, wonderful siblings. I've said it before, but I'll say it again, I'm the luckiest sister in the world.

So, on this Third day of Christmas, I'm truly grateful for:

Three Brothers, Three Sisters and Three Siblings-in-Law,

Two Loving Parents

One Promised King. Savior of the World.

Second Day of Christmas

2010-12-14T17:03:00.000-08:00

On the second day of Christmas I'm truly grateful for:

Two loving parents. Patient and supportive. Wise and strong.

Two parents who love me enough to let me be me with my weird quirks and interests, no matter how off the wall they I can get. Two parents who know me well enough to know when to let me do my own thing and when to step in and give me parental advice. Parents who work as a team, always. Parents who have shown me that they love each other as well as each of their children and grandchildren. Parents who have shown me that they love God and follow Him as exactly as they know how.

My dad has always called me his princess. So many of my memories as a child involve my dad thanking me for choosing to come down to their family. Then he'd ask me how much he loved me. I'd start with my hands not very far apart from each other. He'd shake his head until I made the gap bigger and bigger. Finally my hands would be as far apart as I could stretch out my arms. That's when he'd nod his head and give me a hug before I could bring my arms in again.

I don't know anyone that I relate more to than my dad. We have very similar trials and weaknesses. We have similar interests. We have similar strengths and personality traits. My dad is a wealth of knowledge and patience. He silently works to help those around him; to serve both where he is asked and also where he hasn't been asked. He's a great example to me.

Every year on my birthday, my mom has told me the story of when I was born. I know the story by heart. Long, awesome story short: I tricked my mom with false labor so that she was sent home from the hospital without a baby. As soon as she got home, I decided to start coming again. By the time she and my dad got back to the hospital, I was almost there. Stuck in an elevator with a scared and screaming Chinese man, she almost gave up and had me right there. She was barely able to hold on long enough to welcome me into a clean and private hospital room. She says that's when she knew I'd have the personality I have. She knew that I'd be full of pranks and funny stories.

My mom is the ultimate details and gush-worthy confidant. She's always taken the time to sit and talk with me for however long it takes to get every detail and emotion and moral out of a story that we can. My mom is a woman with a talent for stories. She can take any regular-old event that happens every day to everyone and turn it into an enthralling and captivating story. It's beautiful the way she looks at life. Once in a conversation with my grandma my mom said, "For me, the glass is always half full; and it's always a pretty glass." I think that paints the picture of my mom perfectly. She's gorgeous and talented and always there to tell anything and everything to.

Probably the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me is when I was living in China as a head teacher. It was a very stressful and emotional (both good and bad) time for me with all of my new experiences and responsibilities I had there. I loved all of the Chinese people, but I was also feeling very alone. Knowing how much China meant to me and how much I needed them, my parents got visas and booked flights and hotels and came out to be with me for a week and a half. Being able to have them there for support and also to be able to share with them something I thought that I'd never be able to fully express or explain to them, meant the world to me. There had been days previous where I'd been so happy in China that the only thing I could think was "I wish my family could be here to see/taste/experience this." And my parents made that wish come true for me. Some of my favorite China memories are from when my parents were there with me.

Meeting Lloyd, the infamous and sweet Noodle Man

Teaching my terrified and screaming mother how to use a squatter. Haha.

Taking my parents through the town on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride-like motorcycle taxis.

The three of us visiting my "hometown"'s Buddha

So, on this Second day of Christmas, I'm truly grateful for:

Two Loving Parents

One Promised King. Savior of the World.

First Day of Christmas

2010-12-13T22:20:00.000-08:00

On the first day of Christmas I'm truly grateful for:

One promised King born in a manger. The Savior of the World. Jesus Christ.

Most people know that Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. Because of this, I'm a pretty big stickler on not wanting anyone around me singing Christmas music until December. I get kind of Grinchy if I hear deck the halls before we've let the turkey cool. But this year? For some reason this year, I've been wanting to sing Christmas music since March. My mind has been a broken record of one simple phrase since last Christmas. In May, in July, in September. All year I've heard it playing over and over in my head; it's the "O Holy Night" lyric:

Fall on your knees!

Fall on your knees. When you think about the love, the sacrifice, the willingness, the miracle that is the atonement, that is Christ's life and death, how can you not be in awe? How poignant to imagine the meager shepherds next to the dignified kings, all of them not just kneeling but falling to their knees, overcome with the wonder and gratitude that must have struck them at the sight of the precious newborn.

How would a person, once burdened and suffocated by heartache and misery, who has felt the peace and joy of a Savior who knows and loves and lifts away sadness and dries tears, how could a person who has felt that relief and hope for his or herself, not collapse in worship and gratitude at the sight of her King and Advocate? It seems impossible to imagine being able to stop oneself. And not only at the sight of Jesus Christ, but also at the thought of meeting the Father who allowed his Son to be bruised and beaten for the world's sake.

The thoughts are too much for me most days. I can't really dwell too much on these ideas or I turn into a weepy mess. But today, it's important that I share these feelings. Because these ideas and feelings have been on my mind too heavily this year not to express them.

So, as a person who has tried to keep this blog as light and diversity-friendly as possible, I want those who read this to know how grateful I am for my Savior, Jesus Christ and the atonement that he performed in my behalf. He has saved me in every sense of the word. And I look forward to the day when I am given the opportunity to fall on my knees in His presence and thank Him for truly everything.

O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born;
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
O'er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,
Now come the wisemen from out of the Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friends.
He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
With all our hearts we praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
His power and glory ever more proclaim!

AJ, the Greatest Roommate

2010-10-23T12:44:00.000-07:00

To save money and to get to know my dad's side better, I've moved in with my great aunt. For security purposes, we'll call her AJ. I say "security purposes" for two reasons:
A) She's very particular about who knows what about her
B) She keeps a gun in the house

AJ is one of the coolest people I've ever met. She's basically Bea Arthur

but much prettier. And as evidenced in this previous post I'm pretty much living a dream so wonderful that I never even dared to dream it in thinking it could never come true.

There are numerous wonderful things about living with a real-life Golden Girl. Here's just a few:
A) We both keep our own hours and never get in each other's hair about it. I get up and go to bed whenever I want and she's not the typical aunt that would worry and call my mom if I wasn't home by midnight. In fact, about half the time I'll get home for the night and AJ's car is still gone. And we're talking 1 or 2 in the morning. Where is she? No idea. But I'm not going to go call her kids if she doesn't call my parents for the same thing.
B) Her house is really awesome. She and her husband traveled all over the place before he died. There's souvenirs on every bookshelf from places like Thailand and Paris and everywhere in between. And the walls are COVERED in pictures of her family. My grandpa (AJ's brother) and my grandma divorced years before I was born. It's surreal to look at pictures that not only have my grandpa as a young man in them, but that also have my grandma standing next to him with my dad and their other children. It's neat to see my grandparents together. I've never seen that in real life. Another thing about seeing pictures of my grandpa is realizing how much of the Nelson side we kids have in us. I think I've always seen Pinegar in me because that's the side I know better, but there's this picture

that's right outside my bathroom and every time I pass it I have to do a double-take because it looks so much like a young version of my brother Derek.

   C) Possibly the most awesome thing about living with AJ is her doors and windows. I mentioned earlier that AJ has a gun in the house. She has one because she's been burgled (real word) twice in the last little while. So, her son had her go out and buy a gun and learn how to shoot it. To scare off potential theives, she has one of these

or one of these

on the outside of every door and window in her house. And she's a great shot. When I first moved in with her I was afraid she'd forget that I would be coming in late at night and accidentally shoot me. So we worked out a system where I can let her know its me. Our conversation went something like this:
   AJ: I'm going to have to get used to you coming in at night.
   Me: Oh?
   AJ: Cause I sleep with a gun in my room.
   Me: Right. The targets.
   AJ: And I don't want to get burglarized again.
   Me: Well, I could maybe do a bird call when I come in so you know it's me. Like this, "Caw!"
   AJ: ... or I could just say, "Who's there?" and you could say, "Brooke."
   Me: That would work, too.

I told you AJ is like Bea Arthur. That's because not only is she a tall, powerful woman, but she has sarcasm that's as dry and sharp as you can find. Every time we have a conversation I make mental notes about the genius of her humor and delivery. She's hilarious but in such a non-chalant and "serious" way that you're not sure whether or not she's "serious" or serious. She keeps me guessing, laughing and a little afraid for my life all at the same time, all the time.

My roommate is cooler than yours.

NRA, PNA and Hopefully an ME(N)A

2010-04-21T21:59:00.000-07:00

My sister is getting married!

HOORAY!

I couldn't be happier with Paige's pick: Nick. He is a fantastic guy who adores my sister and treats her like a princess. He's a hard worker, loves his family, gets along with and has found approval from (miracle of all miracles) the whole Nelson crew, plays the piano and guitar, sings, has a good sense of humor and has a slight southern twang in his accent. But the main thing is:

He makes Paige happy; which makes me happy.

Congratulations to my sis and my bro-ancé (AKA Paige's fiancé AKA my future bro AKA my bro-ancé)!

OH MY GOSH! I almost forgot the best part about Paige and Nick getting married: Nick's grandpa's name is Merlin. MERLIN. As in

and

Yeah. Merlin.

So, while this post is a happy post, it is also a warning that I have already given Sis and Bro-ancé in person, but am reiterating here for the whole world to see: If Paige and Nick don't take advantage of the gift of being able to name one of their children Merlin: I will never forgive them. Seriously. Where else will you find an opportunity like this? Can't you just imagine it?

Merlin Erven Anderson

or if they want to get really fancy with it they can name him

Merlin Erven Nelson Anderson

Four names. Two from each side of the family. It's perfect!

Paige, I'm serious. Please, Please, PLEASE! Don't screw this up. I promise not to love any of my nieces or nephews as much as Merlin Erven.

Promise.

Twofer

2010-04-20T15:24:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry I've been so bad about blogging lately. I'm taking a break from studying for finals to give you a quick twofer (two for the price of one, JSYK).

First of all, today is Day 30 of P90X. While I haven't seen the results I would like to see so far in regards to the way my clothes fit, I have seen a change in my energy levels. I'm happier (I think) than I was a month ago (though the temperature has changed quite a bit as well in the last thirty days so it could also have something to do with that). It's a little easier for me to get out of bed and get stuff done when my alarm goes off (sometimes). I'm also a lot more flexible which is something I wasn't expecting so quickly. I'm finding some stretches too easy now and am looking for more ways to actually feel a pull or stretch, so that's cool. Oh yeah, and Tony Horton, you crazy/weird man:
I hate you, but I love you.

Speaking of crazy/weird love, my second part of this post (putting the "two" in twofer) is about Chinese people and how I miss them:

I love and miss Chinese people.

And here's a video to help you see why. Also, the music during his final trick reminds me of Land Before Time which only adds to its greatness.

中国, 我约定近义词!

Long Overdue

2010-03-21T23:43:00.000-07:00

For a refresher on what we look like when we aren't dressed up as LOST characters, refer to the Premier Post.

What are we going to do with ourselves once this whole saga is over?

Project P90(se)X(...y)

2010-03-21T21:57:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow Cami, Kiera, Shannon, Michael and I are starting P90X. I normally wouldn't post about something this personal and self-conscious, but I'm breaking my rule because I want some accountability on this. Kubo thinks that we'll only last three days. I'm committing to last three months. We're taking before and after pictures and writing out a schedule and eating healthy and everything. I'm going to do a check-in on Day 30, Day 60 and Day 90. Sorry, none of my pictures are going up on here. I'm willing to lower my blogging humility a little bit, but not THAT much. I am, however, more than happy to exploit others:

Excited? Me too! See you in thirty days!

My Constant

2010-03-02T15:06:00.000-08:00

Chris Harrison,

you are my Constant.

(For those of you sad people who don't watch LOST, you may need to click this link.)

Proof.

2010-02-04T11:54:00.000-08:00

There is a God.

There has to be. Otherwise there's no explanation for the heaven-in-your-mouth that is:

SUSHI.

Especially the Las Vegas Roll

and the Dragon Roll.

And even more especially when you can get all the sushi you can eat for a mere $14.99.

Sometimes I just love my life.

DANCER.

2010-01-31T22:23:00.000-08:00

The following is an excerpt from a letter written by Sister Whitney Morris, currently serving in Samara, Russia, after a particularly stressful week out in the field:

"This past week I've felt like a human, which isn't ok. This next week I'm going to try harder to feel like dancer. It's a much better life."

Press on, my dear friend. You inspire me more than you know.

I'll watch this for you, since you can't:

And I miss you.

LOOORRST!

2010-01-29T00:53:00.000-08:00

Coming Soon...

...LOST Season 6 Premiere Pictures

Starring:

Adam Purcell as Benjamin Linus

Andrew Henry Pieper as Hugo "Hurley" Reyes

Andy Hartshorn as James "Sawyer" Ford

Brooke Nelson as Sayid Jarrah

Camille Butler as Kate Austen

Christian Pieper as Frank Lapidus

Emily Lloyd as Juliet Burke

Jeffrey Knight as Charlie Pace

Katie and Joe Nibley as Sun and Jin Kwon

Kenton Pieper as Desmond Hume

Kiera George as Claire Littleton

Kubo as Richard Alpert

Lauren Pieper as Jacob

Michael Brandley as Charlotte Lewis

Nick Anderson as Boone Carlyle

Paige Nelson as Shannon Rutherford

Trex Wood as Daniel Faraday

With Special Guest Appearance:

Baby as Aaron Littleton

02.02.10

Pihrjjj.

2010-01-26T17:38:00.000-08:00

I never knew how lucky I was until I would talk to my friends about their siblings. Some siblings don't get along or didn't like each other or can't even stand each other. Isn't that depressing? I've never been able to comprehend that. Our parents have always told us: "You can have friends, but your siblings are your BEST friends." And all seven of us Nelson kids really are best friends, even with the 20-year age range from Joel to Nina. I'm completely blessed when it comes to who I get to spend forever with.

My sibling closest in age to me (three years younger) is Paige. We're complete opposites; but we love each other a lot.

My niece, Lily,

says my sister's name in the funniest way. She says, "Pihrjjj". Dang it. It's hard to write out how she says it. She gets this low voice that's kind of froggy-throat-ish and sticks out her lower jaw as she says it. I wish I had it recorded for you. It's hilarious. Anyways, Pihrjjj recently moved up to Provo, and I've already had my best semester of college because of her. I'm so grateful that I have her here with me and that I get to experience life away from home in a less-lonely way.

I look up to Paige in a lot of ways. She's organized and on top of things. She can make me laugh harder than practically anyone I know. She has the most tender heart, which makes her very approachable. I know moving up to Provo was the toughest choice she's made in her life, so far. But, from the bottom of my heart, I'm grateful that she did.

I love you, Pihrjjj!

Isn't she GORGEOUS?

PS- HAYLEY, Sis and I can't wait for you to get up here, too! SFL!

My Growing Garden

2010-01-25T09:13:00.001-08:00

A Lily...

... and a Violet.

No, I'm not a gardener. (My allergies would never stand for it.) But I am an aunt; which is my favorite thing to be. My brother Joel, sister-in-law Valerie and niece Lily

welcomed

Violet Jane Nelson

into their family on Thursday, January 21, 2010, and I couldn't be happier. Joel and Val were going to name her Sophia Belle, but when they actually saw her, they couldn't help but call her Violet. (I like "Violet" better anyway, don't you?) So, raise up your glasses ...of cranberry juice... and join me in a toast to my gorgeous, growing garden.

SKOMPS!