***anyone who knows me even semi-well knows of my love for diet coke. If I'm being honest, I actually can't stand other soda. Root beer now makes me want to throw up. Sprite is far too sweet. Regular coke. ew. don't even get me started. But diet coke? Well... everyone has to have one thing, right? I found this gem just the other day {not sure how I missed it when she first posted}. Believe you me, when I hit up provo again in 2016, you can bet your bottom dollar I will be trying all of these.
***remember how I hiked Mount Sneffels? My friend Erica {yes. the two Ericas} took some wonderful pictures of it! You should look at her website {ericalaurendesign.com}
***this summer I was able to teach with the Sister Missionaries a lot. It was such an awesome learning experience and opened my eyes to how hard I'm going to have to work for 18 months on my mission. Sister Jones has been here all summer and I have loved getting to know her! Her testimony and love of the gospel and Jesus Christ is so apparent in everything she does. She goes home this week and so obviously we had to take a picture! Her companion is Sister Patera, who, just like Sister Jones, is amazing! I was so blessed to get to know these sisters. They got me so excited for my mission. I LOVED spending part of this summer with them!
{also, we asked a nine year old to take our picture. don't do that if quality is a priority. also, he knew how to work my camera because it was an iphone. but. he didn't know how to work a real camera. what has this world come to??}
This blog has just turned into a lot of awkward, low quality photos. oh well.
***This Wednesday is my last day of work. Let me tell you, I am so excited. I'll miss the theater like crazy, but this summer has been all work and I'm ready to be done with it. and to finish paying my dad back for london. but that's beside the point.
full time job + part time job + violin students + office cleaning = no fun
actually I take that back. I've really enjoyed my jobs this summer. They've just given me a really, really good reason to graduate college. I'm not going to consider myself successful until I no longer have to work weekend night shifts. Once those stop, I'll know I've arrived.
Can we talk about how much I LOVED teaching my five year old student? I wanted to cry after I finished her lesson last week. Plus she drew me the cutest picture and they gave me some Euros.
My violin student > yours
***I spent thursday night hanging out with Kym, her friend Kenzie, and Kelsey! It was the first time I had seen Kym in a year... crazy. We went to Coffee Trader {duh. where else?} then decided to head to the Drive In! So I raced home, asked if I could use my mom's car, and grabbed some blankets. For whatever reason we ended up taking my dad's truck. well ya'll, that is a very large truck. But I decided I quite love driving it and listening to country music and everything else that comes with this beautiful home town of mine. The drive-in ended up being closed so we headed up to sunset mesa and spent the evening watching the sunset, eating dove chocolate and raisenets, and catching up. These girls are the greatest and it was fun getting to see Kym again!
***Today was a special Stake Conference. Our stake had the wonderful opportunity of hosting Bishop Gerald Gausse from the presiding bishopric! It was amazing {also, there was a special meeting yesterday in Grand Junction for the missionaries... Elder Oaks was there! Yes, I really am jealous I didn't get to go. Nonetheless, today was great}
He and his wife both gave the best talks. In fact, his wife's talk was my favorite out of all the people that spoke! {his was great too, don't worry} She talked about accepting changes and having the faith to follow what our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ ask of us. I loved the talk so much because it's a subject I've been thinking about a lot lately. The last year or so has come with a lot of change and the next couple years will bring even more. I went off to college without truly realizing how much BYU would impact me. As I came home and started being around people I was around during high school, I noticed that just one year at BYU had changed me a great deal more than I had anticipated it would. Because I had changed, a lot around me had too. My priorities have become really different than a lot of people around me. {also... shock of hearing a cuss word for the first time in 8 months? it was real.} In a few months I'll be a missionary and it'll be even more apparent then. I'll give up a lot of things for those 18 months. With all this change in my life, I've realized that I'm not as close to some of people I was before and I've made completely new friends who share the same standards and beliefs and goals in life as me. Sister Gausse talked about when her husband was called to be a General Authority. It meant leaving France and moving to Utah. She left a couple of her daughters home while they attended college and her other children all had to be enrolled in english-speaking education in Utah. She left friends and her home and everything else to follow what had been asked of her and her husband. I also can't help but think about my ancestors who were in the Martin Handcart Company. They left Denmark and traveled to a new country to follow the saints to Utah. They literally gave up most of their possessions to walk thousands of miles across an unknown country and ended up being stranded in an early winter with no food. When I think of what other people give up to follow Jesus Christ, I can't help but think that maybe having to become a little bit of a different person, even if that means not being as close to some of my old friends or not spending as much time on pinterest so I can study my scriptures a little more, isn't that bad at all.
Haha, all right, that was a long schpeal, but I had to get it out there.
***My mom and I watched Anne of Green Gables. not sure it that's actually blog worthy, but I'm just sayin that it's not a summer with the Deckers if you don't watch Anne of Green Gables. and yes, I can still quote every single line. #talent
***Most importantly: Ryan and Tiffany are going to have their baby any time! {did I even mention that Tiffany was pregnant?} Anyways, I'm so dang excited for that little guy to get there! And they are going to be the greatest parents.
I can't believe that the summer is coming to an end so quickly! It's been a great summer filled with lots of adventures and new learning experiences {most of which haven't been documented in any way, shape, or form, which makes me really sad}. But it's been a good way to end living at home in Montrose {never again though. I love my parents and I love Colorado but I am over living at home. except the food. you can't get over my mom's wonderful cooking} Peace out.
-Erica
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