We got to live the high life a little bit. My dad's seats are in a lounge (not box seats) which meant free food. They had free hamburgers (they were actually really good and big), plus unlimited popcorn, brownies, and unlimited SODA/drinks. It was a real treat to not drop 15 dollars on food.

The drive home, consisted of a dance party of course, and then I crashed hard.



Sunday

Side story--People always ask what got me interested in ASL/Interpreting. Well growing up, there was a deaf girl in my ward. She was different though. She could read lips, she was always so put together, her english was/is better than mine, and she was involved in dance/cheer. She was one of the first deaf students in the Mesa District to attend her neighborhood high school. She's kind of a deaf legend. ;)

I never talked to her when I was young, and when I started getting more involved in ASL, she got married and started her own family. Through social media, I've seen how brilliant she is, and so funny. Her captions are always on point.

Anyway, she is now the RS president of her (hearing) ward, and asked if I would come interpret.

Sunday was my first day and I was so nervous. Part because I've looked up to her for so long, and also because she's the president, so I have to be on point. She needs to know who said what, more exact translation so her comments/word choice are the same as the speaker, etc. It's just a lot of pressure, guys.
But I think I passed because she wants me back AND she asked if i'd interpret for the easter pageant.





I haven't been to my ward in like a month. I was feeling guilty, so I decided I should probably go to mine, here on out. It was crazy though how many new people there are! My ward is seriously a new ward. It's fun to meet new people, but I also feel guilty for not caring to get involved.


That evening Taylor and I planned to eat dinner with his parents and then hurry over to the stake center to watch the CES devotional. We decided to take our time making dinner and just watch it at the house...we soon remembered the time difference, which meant it would be on an hour earlier, so we only caught the last 20 minutes. Oh well.

His family LOVES old classic movies, and they are appalled I haven't seen any. So we spent the rest of the evening watching one of their old classics.






Monday

I realized that the only way I'll see Taybae is if I go to his fhe. So I was a good girl and went. It was actually a lot of fun. They played crab soccer and then sharks and minnows feat a tarp. For the shark game, you have one shark sneaking under the tarp, and then they pull people in by their legs. BUT you have one life guard running along trying to pull people up. Once someone goes under the tarp, they become a shark. There was a lot of head-bumping and chaos under the tarp but it was fun and exhilarating waiting to get pulled under.



Tuesday

I decided to start dancing again and now I have no idea why I stopped!!
Taylor's dad is one of the people in charge of easter pageant, so his family is always in it. I've always wanted to be in it, but never actually did it. I figured this was my window and why not go full out and try out for a 10 virgin (dancing part), even though I haven't danced in 4 and a half years. So knowing the auditions are in a month, it was the push I needed to take a class again. It did my heart good.


Wednesday

My main student I interpret for had early release-HOLLER. But I of course still have to do something til 3. So when my student left, I hopped over to the high school. I got there at the start of their lunch, so I got to chill for an hour and eat left overs from their brunch that morning (2nd lunch for me).

They had late start which meant all their classes were shorter- double holler!
The first class I "interpreted" was a computer class. I think i talked to the student more than I actually interpreted. The second class I teamed with Olivia. The students were independently working, so we literally signed/chatted the whole 40 minutes. It was so great.

That night, I was planning on meeting up with Taylor after he finished his homework around 9. I was exhausted though and fell asleep at 8:30. My body was in heaven finally beating my 5 hour, weekly average.



Thursday

There is a deaf branch in Mesa, which was super exciting when it first was established and i was a student needing deaf hours. Now I get asked at least once a month to interpret something for them. (I love interpreting, I just get a little sick of church interpreting, but this life is about sharing our skills/talents I guess). This week, it was a women's meeting about refugees. I had a team which is always a nice treat. It was extra great though because she has a lot of experience, so I learned a lot from working with her.

After I met up with Taybae of course. I have no idea what we did though. Probably chatted with his family.




Friday

A girl in taylor's ward had a birthday dinner at Red Robin. It was a pretty big group, so we couldn't really talk to everyone, but it was a good time and good food.
After we planned our trip to conference and drove to the observatory to see what they were showing. Unfortunately, it was Mars again and there was a long line, so we ditched that idea and worked out instead. We make a great team- he runs, i ride a bike, then we stop at the park and workout with the monkey bars/hills. Someday, once I master the insanity workouts, I'll make him do them with me.




Saturday

I had NO desire to get out of bed. So I didn't. I did birthday shopping online instead of going to the store, and I milked out my time before I had to get ready. I eventually made my way to my parents but still waited another 2 hours before I got ready.

Kel cut my hair- which was much needed. It feels so fresh and light now. Plus it was fun to catch up and hear about her recent trip to Hawaii.

When I got back to my parents, Taybae met up with me for Costa Vida with my fam. Then we watched the BYU football game (Arizona's game wasn't on direct tv), took a trip to Coldstone, and then watched Jack Reacher. I didn't think I was so sensitive, but it was a little too graphic for me. Tom Cruise made it more light and funny, but there was a lot of intense scenes.




Sunday

I have made it to my ward 2 weeks in a row-I'd say that's a record. ;)
I had 3 meetings scheduled and 2 fell through, so I was definitely not complaining.

After church, we went to Taylor's sister's house for her birthday dinner (which I didn't know it was her birthday until 10 minutes into the night). We could only stay an hour because we had to go back to the stake center for a fireside by a member of the 70. He had some crazy stories-what a life.


I was determined to start the week off right and go home around 10, but pretty soon it was 11:30 and I was still at Taylor's house.

Just really looking forward to October Break for that extra sleep. :)