"both abundance [and lack of abundance] exists simultaneously in our lives, as parrallel realities. it is always our conscience choice which secret garden we will tend...when we choose not to focus on what is missing in our lives but are greatful for the abunance that's present-love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature and personl pursuits that bring us happiness-the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth." -president monson

i find myself far too often complaining about things i feel are super hard. for example: how 7 degrees outside makes it faar too cold to go running. or how my teacher in one class is making us take a test every week up until the final exam. or how i don't get to spend thanksiving/birthdays with my parents and sweet little sisters. rough life right??? yeah...i sometimes think so....

BUT...then read a quote like this. or listen to a 6 year old boy give the blessing on our thanksgiving meal and thank heavenly father that we "even have food for thanksgiving." those kinds of things always get you thinking. and in my case got me thinking: you know what? it may be 7 degrees outside, but thank goodnss i have a healthy body and the ABILITY to run at all. and yeah..nobody likes test, but i have the OPPORTUNITY that a lot of people don't have. to go to a university and gain an education. and even though it's hard being away from my family, i'm thankful for the wonderful gandparents and family members i have here, that take good care of me and make these days great regardless of being 4000 miles away from my family.

looks to me like i don't have too much to complain about. happy thanksgiving y'all:)

don't know what i'd do without her...

today is this lady's birthday:

im wishin that i could give my mom a hug on her special day, but i'll just have to wait until jan.

i love everything about my mom and wouldn't change anything about her. these are just a few of my favorite things:

her smile.

she's the best cook i know. (seriously)

her sweet sincere testimony.

her positive attitude.

her work ethic.

her laugh.

her runnin skills.

her example.

her sense of humor.

her long legs.

her faithfulness.

her freckles.

the fact that she never complains.

mom, i hope your day is great. i'll be thinking about you 4000 miles away.

love you.

somethin to think about...

wonder what would happen if we treated our Book of Mormon like we treat our cell phones?

what if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?

what if we turned back to get it if we forgot it?

what if we flipped through it several times a day?

what if we used it to receive messages from the text?

what if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?

what if we spent an hour or more using it every day?

what if we made sure each of our kids had one and used it?

what if we couldn't go on a trip without it?

what if we used it in case of an emergency?

this hit me pretty hard, because....well, im addicted to my cell phone.

..im back..

i feel like someone should have warned me that it is nearly impossible to keep up a blog while going to school. really. impossible. maybe i would have thought twice about it? but here's the thing: i'm not a quitter...so here i am.

in a nutshell, since that post back in august, life has been great. i'm staying on top of my school work, loving my nannying job, and having too much fun living the college dream. not real sure what else a girl could ask for. here are a few of the highlights:

..AUGUST..

my cousins/roommate/best friend got married. i'm getting pretty used to the wedding thing. and catching the bouquet is what i do. here's proof. i've been missin this girl as a roommate. she'd throw a pillow at my face in the mornings when my alarm was going off and i couldn't hear it, attend every [byu basketball game] with me, and make me laugh in my grumpiest moods. but i couldn't be happier for her...and the good news? she lives just down the road.

..SEPTEMBER..

i did it. made it through a whole 26.2 miles. and had such a great experience doing it. (which is all i wanted.) definitely one of the harder things i've done, BUT-just like i'd heard so many times-the training was harder than the marathon, and running across the finish line was definitely worth all the early mornings, blisters, sore muscles, and runs in the pourin rain. i would definitely recommend it.

..OCTOBER..

it's officially fall. my favorite time. i tend to run a lot more when the weather is perfect and it's gorgeous outside. i mean, look at this picture.[i didn't take it, of course] but that's exactly what the provo river trail looks like these days, and i've been lovin it.

..NOVEMBER..

i am seriously in shock that november is here. but i'm not complaining. definitely one of my favorite months of the year. so...i'm fine with it. also. this year november means that this boy [elder jones] will be home in 3 MONTHS! and i couldn't be more excited.

happy fall everyone. :)

feelin good.

i ran 20 miles this morning.

wooo hooo. (yep..that's me tooting my own horn.)

it was my 2nd 20 miler and it felt just as good as the first. (surprisingly)

i think i'm ready to run 26 in 3 weeks. maybe.....

it's time...

the last scripture study @ the jones home went something like this:
trae reads a verse in portuguese. melissa in english. davis reads a verse in portuguese. mal in english. drew in portuguese-with a spanish accent. macey in english. etc. (you get the idea)

so THEN yesterday we had a fun conversation @ the dinner table.
drew: "okay..i want to issue a new family goal. from now on lets start speaking to each other 100% in portuguese @ home."

okay...that's my cue...time for me to head out.

at least they were nice enough to wait until it was time for me to leave to make this drastic change. and the good news is i've already accepted the fact that i'll be the only one in my family not speaking the language the next time we are all together. but i'm confidant that they'll still love me...

so..i'm leaving tomorrow. it's definitely going to be bitter/sweet. but i'm ready. mostly i'm ready for: a warm shower every morning. a comfortable bed. my cell phone. driving on normal roads. being able to have a simple conversations with whoever i want (seriously..i even miss small talk with random strangers.) my friends. idaho. my car. walking out of church and feeling like a got something out of it. and a big glass of milk..whenever i want.

don't get me wrong. i've loved being down here. but there sure is no place like home. :)

some recent happenings..

well. here i am. back to the crazy country of brasil for a couple of weeks. i love being with my family, especially since Drew has joined us. we haven't all lived together since, well since before trae moved out. it's an experience, that's for sure. we kind of all forgot how to jive with each other [and doesn't a tiny apartment full of 10 people just speaks for itself?] but we are slowly learning. and we do have fun being all together. sometimes a little too much. as much as i love it here, i am ready to be home. ready to be with my friends. and ready to get back into the school thing. (i know...crazy right? ask me that again after i've been in school for 2 days.) but as ready as i am i know that once i'm home i'll be missing my family like crazy, so i'm trying to enjoy the short time i have left with them.

just a couple of things that have happened since i've been back:

we had the opportunity to go clean out some houses that are completely FULL of mud because of all the rain recife got. (i'll admit i didn't want to go, but am very glad i did.) it was sad to see so many people homeless because their houses and streets are completely full of mud. (we worked for six hours and between about ten of us we only completed about 2 and a half houses) it also made me very grateful to live in America, with proper drainage systems. I was really impressed, of course, with how organized the church is. they see a problem and immediately go in and do what they can to help solve it. it was pretty amazing to see. worth the blisters, sunburn, and muddy clothes. :)

we've had some fun adventures as of late. the reason? visitors. Skye and Fletch came and stayed with us for a couple of days. so we showed them around. these are pictures of us in natal. (my new favorite place in brasil) it was absolutely beautiful.

what else has been going on? this. it probably happens a little too much-not the trae sleeping on me part, that only happens once in a while:) i read 24/7. my average is about 3 books a week. (ugh...and i've run out....with a week left to go) what can i say? summertime is the only time i have to read since during the school year i just feel guilty if i'm not reading my textbook. i've loved it to say the least.

i sure hope everyone's having a pretty great summer. :)