11th.. 

My ward is trying to create unity, so every other Wednesday they have some sort of game night. Sarah is helping me get more involved, haha and she got me to go. It actually ended up being a lot of fun! The group of people I was with wanted to play volleyball. I am not athletic or good nor do I enjoy it. So I always get out of playing by just talking and watching but that was not my luck this time. They needed more people and I had no one else to go talk to, so I got sucked into playing. Tbh, I hated it at first, but after we were almost done, I finally started to become more comfortable and like it. Guess you gotta try new things. 

12th.. 

Taylor and I watched a movie, I can't remember what it's called. It's about Nelson Mandela and rugby. I didn't do too well at paying attention but it was still pretty good. Oh and we had homemade ice cream to celebrate his last final and finishing his associates!! 

13th 

Poor Taylor always plans dates and Mother Nature ruins them. Literally every time. But plan b (or c) always ends up being a good time too. I think this night we went to a yummy taco place with the cutest play area for kids/families. Then he introduced me to a new game, in which he kicked my trash. 

14th 

My Tucson friends, Alyssa and Trent got married! 1320 girls kinda take credit for their relationship.. Steph introduced them, we threw some parties, I took their first picture together.. Haha. Anyway they got married in Mesa, so Olivia and I decided we had to go since it was so convenient. Her dress was gorgeous and she looked flawless. The best man did a questionnaire and about the bride and groom and it was tender seeing the groom get teary eyed. 

After the reception, we met up with Sarah and Taylor for a slip n slide/pool party. Right when we got there, the parents said we had to move the party elsewhere. But it was ight because the new house had a millionaire backyard.. Community type pool with a kiddie area, skate park and full basketball court (plus racquetball court inside the house). Like who are these people?? Unfortunately it was kinda cold so we didn't really swim. 

After hanging out in the hot tub (which was only 2 degrees warmer), we went back to my house for treats. We ended up watching funny YouTube videos the rest of the night. By the end, my head hurt from laughing too much. 

15th 

It was a long Sunday. I interpreted like normal, then had a meeting, which was then followed into church. As soon as church was finished I went to my cousins for her "goodbye dinner". She is moving up to Utah for the summer so we had a little dinner for her and my other cousin which will also be moving up to Utah in June. 

It reminded me of how hard and depressing it was to move (but in the end the best experience I've had). The key for me was getting involved (making new friends) and staying close to God. The gospel and the feelings I got while reading, and praying were familiar. It felt good to have that. 

Anyway, after the dinner I hurried back to the church for a fireside. A patriarch from another stake talked about patriarchal blessings. I was kinda iffy going into it. What could they really teach us since the blessing itself is so individual. But it was amazing and helped redirect my life. He shared experiences of how heavens open while giving blessings, how he prepares, how we can better use our blessings, etc. He lives such a pure life: no tv, movies, music.. I can only imagine how our leaders of the church live. 

After the fireside, Sarah, Brigham, Taylor and I went to a pizookie night. We went to Morgan harmans which meant I got to see some Mesa peeps, which is always fun. 

I always try to go to sleep early on Sunday to start my week of strong, but that didn't happen and the rest of the week followed the trend. 

16th 

Sarah really is helping activate me in my ward. She got me to go to FHE again. We ended up playing glow in the dark volleyball which consisted of everyone wearing glow sticks and a beach ball with glow sticks inside. It was a little trippy at first trying to follow the ball with your eyes. I was in the perfect spot though where I could contribute every few volleys but I could also just talk to the people around me. Haha. 

After Fhe, we went to Bahama bucks to introduce Brigham to its goodness. He is still converted to his east coast ways of Rita's and didn't love it as much as we all do. 

17th 

Taylor and I hung out and once again his plans were ruined. We still had a good time though. Oh and he introduced me to a new favorite, butterscotch root beer. It's heaven. We got it from a world market in Gilbert, if I can find it elsewhere, I'll fill y'all in. Seriously straight heaven. We took our bottles (like IBC root beer bottles) into target and wondered if people thought we were drunk since I talk so loud and we were   laughing loudly. 

Also that night, he introduced me to the movie school of Rock which is probably my new favorite comedy. 

(Also another late night)

18th 

I went into the office like usual, but around 4 I ran out of files to scan and no one was there to give me more. So I got off super early! I ended up having time to grocery shop, workout and go to the temple, all before it was time to meet up with Taylor. It was a good day! Some days you have to choose to be happy, but that was not the case today. 

19th

My homeboy, Nate had his final choir concert for the semester. It was my kind of concert, they sang all "pop" songs. He rocked it. I'm glad he has found something he loves. 

After, we of course celebrated with cold stone and Taylor met up with us. 

We finished off the night watching Sherlock Holmes. 

Oh and I stayed up packing for Utah.. 

20th 

The school I work at had a school dance and it was the cutest things. Girls had their hair curled, and dresses. The actual dance was the cutest part. They all had pure joy dancing/jumping around with their friends! My "date" was a little autistic boy that kept grabbing my hand to dance. 

Around 4, we picked up Nate from school and headed for the 801 (Utah). We arrived around 9 pm, so we didn't get to visit Morgan, Payson and Conrad. But we did stop to get our traditional swig cookies for the weekend. #priorities 

21st 

Remember how we spent our spring break helping my grandpa move? Well we still aren't done. So we spent the morning cleaning his house and making many DI runs. We were still spoiled with yummy food like Kneaders and pizza/soda for lunch. 

My cousin had a small wedding but it was raining all day. We were kinda nervous but right when it was time to start, the rain stopped (although the seats were all wet). It was a "traditional" wedding, which are always unique and rare for us to see. 

After socializing with family for awhile, we met up with Morgan, Payson, Conrad and went on a walk through the cemetery with them. We all pretty much just stared at Conrad in his stroller. 

Nothing cuter than seeing dad talk and play with Conrad. 

Thanks Al...

Later that night we met up with grandpa for chinese. Then ended the night watching school of Rock and eating popcorn in our hotel. 

22nd 

We of course had to visit my grandma while we were up there. It's always a gamble with how alert she will be. Today wasn't one of her good days. But it's still always good to see her and support my grandpa. 

After awhile at the hospital, we went to my cousins farewell luncheon. They had taco salad with yummy cilantro ranch dressing. And yummy cake to follow but it was freezing outside and none of us had jackets, so we hid out in the house most of the afternoon. 

Around 1 we headed over to their church for her farewell talk. 

The highlight though was holding Conrad through church. 

Around 6 that night, it was time to head back to the 480. The flight went super fast. 

We landed at 9, but of course by the time I got home, it was 10. But it was okay. Worth the trip. 

For anyone who got through it all, and faithfully reads... Taylor and I are officially dating. :)