MCOM #15: weekend assignment.

Over the weekend we were assigned to serve someone that is more stressed than us. Sometimes I get stuck in my own little world and think "who could possibly be more stressed than I am?" What a joke. I'm a 21-year-old girl living in Utah going to a fantastic school. I really don't have that much stress in my life. Sure, school is extremely stressful, but honestly, how blessed am I to be able to stress about a college education? 

So this weekend I looked around. I realized that a lot of people around me are more stressed than me. I mean... my dad was ending tax season. My brother has finals just like me, but he's a masters student. I guarantee his are harder. My roommates are adorable and...stressed. So I decided to take more of a "small acts of service" approach. I always have a to-do list with things like "write kayla a note!" and "call grandpa" but I never get around to those things. So this weekend I tried to do those little acts of service. I texted my dad and made my roommate's bed and made my brother one of his favorite treats. It's kind of weird to blog about this but yeah. It was a good weekend. And I realized that this really isn't something that I can't do every day. Making my roommate's bed took a minute, tops. And it was good to do something, even if small, for someone else.

image address

MCOM #14: IS 201.

I already wrote about this, but guys, IS 201 is the greatest class EVER.  Right now we're learning VBA... which is basically the programming language of Microsoft Excel. When I took this class I thought I was going to hate it, but I am actually in love with it, I think. I had no idea that it was going to be so useful.

I can't even believe that I'm seriously writing a blog post about computers. My life has hit an all time low. But look at this video and see how awesome VBA is!

So yeah, that's what I'm thinking about right now. Aren't you so glad that you took the time to read a blog post about computer programming? But not even REAL computer programming. Like super beginning level programming. But still sooo cool.

Also. Finals start this week. Say a prayer for me, folks. Only four finals stand between me and...a five day break and more school {yay!} Alright, that's it. BYE.

MCOM 13: ted talks round {??}.

Have we ever talked about how much I love Ted Talks. Several months ago we watched this ted talk in my career strategies class. I don't completely agree with every single thing that he says, but I think it's really important and he presents a good point. 

And as I've mentioned, right now I'm at the age that I have to decide what I'm doing with my life. I don't suggest being this age. It's no fun. But on the bride side, it's a time that a person gets to decide what they're passionate about. "Passion is your greatest love." So I'm over here trying to decide the answer to that question. "Does the word destiny scare you?"I think the other thing that we have a problem with is the idea of understanding what it means to be passionate about something. I think that sometimes we think that you can only be passionate about a cause or a belief. But let me tell you, I think that my accounting 310 professor is passionate about accounting. The way he talks about it. And I actually think that that is really cool. I think you should be passionate about what you study.

Anyways, I'm going to go figure out how to make my weird different passions into a career.

MCOM #12: history.

Here's fun fact number two {ok, probably not two, but lets go with that} about me. I love history. Like I said earlier, I'm currently going through a quarter-life crisis right now and for a brief second I seriously considered dropping everything and double majoring in history and Russian. If it weren't for the advice that my mission president gave us the night we left Russia, I might have done it. But he told us "what the shortest book ever written? Jobs available for history majors." So maybe not. But still.

Anyways. I like history. And I think that the traveling I've been able to do in the last couple of years has really helped along that love. I got to live in London and travel throughout the United Kingdom. In this blog post, I mentioned that the buildings are older than America. Seriously. Have you ever thought about how young American is?!

But that was nothing. I got to Russia and my first area was a "little" town {only half a million people} called Yaroslavl. Oh how I love Yaroslavl. I spent a preparation day walking through the sights of Yaroslavl as a girl told us all about its history. Yaroslavl is one of the eight cities considered to make up the "golden ring." These ancient cities were vital to the formation of the Russian Orthodox church. And let me tell you... there are churches EVERYWHERE. Like think of how many Mormon church you see in Utah County, then image walking the streets of a city well over a thousand year old and seeing that many churchs, except they all have the beautiful onion domes. History EVERYWHERE. I love it. I'm so excited to go back!

I love learning about history because everything else just makes sense. Last semester I took a Russian history class. We went from the baptism of Rus in 988 to 2017. Learning about the history of Russia brought clarity to the culture I experienced there.

History is cool.

And now let's appreciate my wonderful Yaroslavl:

image address

image address

My 20th birthday! It was our preparation day {meaning we had a couple hours of free time} and we spent it touring Yaroslavl and buying matching Provoslavni pinky rings!

MCOM #11: Ninety percent of everything.

A little while ago, I blogged about the Kimberely Process and why I don't want a diamond ring. Strange, right? Well, sometimes when I tell people that, their comeback is this: "you just have to be ok with ethical issues" or "you not buying one diamond ring won't make a difference." I would have to say that I actually somewhat agree. Do I really think that me not getting one ring is going to change the world or the diamond industry? No. Is there a chance that that diamond was mined in an ethical situation? Yes! If I get a morganite/amethyst/sapphire ring, do I think that that stone was mined in a perfectly ethical situation? Most likely no {sadly}.

This gets me to my blog title. Here's the thing. We live in a globalized world. And that makes life a whole lot better for us. That also means that we consume a lot of products that get to us unethically; this may be because of child labor or poor working conditions or a million other things. In my opinion, this means that we need to choose what we feel strongly about and do what we can for that one {or a couple} things. So, I feel strongly about the African diamond industry. Ok, so that's my thing. Unfortunately, there's a really good chance that 99% of the stuff in my closet was also produced in less-than-perfectly-ethical situations. Last summer I read a book by Rose George called Ninety percent of everything. It was a fascinating nonfiction book. The author boards a shipping container ship as it makes its rounds through the ocean. She tells of the day-to-day life of crew members and crew leaders. She speaks of poor conditions, bad food, and dangers from pirates {who, yes, still exist}. Her main point is that, despite what we think, ninety percent of everything gets to us via one of these giant shipping container ships. Shipping containers themselves have revolutionized and enabled globalization.

So my point is this: if I really wanted to make a moral stand and boycott anything and everything that comes to me unethically, I would be in trouble. I would say goodbye to my iphone, my clothes, my school supplies, and basically everything I own. George makes the comment, "Buy your fair-trade coffee beans, by all means, but don't assume fair-trade principles govern the conditions of the men who fetch it to you. You would be mistaken."

So when people tell me that I can't make a difference, that may actually be a little true. I don't hold a large share of market demand for anything {except maybe diet dr. pepper...} so me not purchasing one thing, won't really matter. But I think every person has the moral stipulation to make some sort of a stand. This doesn't mean in everything, but maybe in just one or two things. So I'll probably keep buying my internationally-produced clothes because I don't feel that passionate about it {I mean, I probably should. but not doing so would mean that I need to hand-weave fabric and sew my own clothes. sooo not happening}. But I probably will say no to a diamond ring.

I'm not sure if that even makes sense, but here's the takeaway: everyone should have something to which they are morally opposed to, and you should do what you can to right that. And everyone should read Rose George's book. Also, appreciate this giant ship and please note that every shipping container on it is 48 feet long. you do that math.

image source

MCOM #10: ted talks & happiness.

Have you noticed how much I love Ted Talks? Because I love Ted Talks. It's sort of a problem. But anyways, the other day, I watched this Ted Talk and I LOVE IT.

"Our external world is not predictive of our happiness." Think about that for a second.

"We need to reverse the formula for happiness and success...if happiness is on the opposite side of success, your brain never gets there."

GUYS I LOVE THIS. I like happiness. In fact, it's probably my favorite thing. But this talk is so true. I put happiness on the opposite side of success. That's why a couple weeks ago, {when success wasn't really a thing in my life} I felt miserable. But that's not the way to live. I'm at BYU! That by itself is incredible! This university is wonderful. And just because I wasn't seeing success, doesn't mean that I can't be happy.

I actually have lots of thoughts about happiness. But basically I'll just leave it at this. Happiness isn't something we get from our external world.

MCOM #9: the Kimberely Process.

Fun fact: I don't want a diamond engagement ring. Weird, right? Most people think that's pretty weird, so I don't usually bring it up. I think that if you want a diamond ring, that's great, go for it. But I don't feel like I need one. My dad bought me a beautiful amethyst ring several years ago. I still am so in love with it and wear it every single day and I can't imagine loving it any more if it was a diamond. I have that same opinion about engagement rings. I don't think I would love a different stone any less and it would be way more unique than getting a diamond ring like over 75 percent of American brides. {that's a real statistic, guys}. This isn't me saying that other people shouldn't have a diamond ring. If you have one, chances are that I think it's beautiful and perfect for YOU, just not me.

Well... I was at a wedding a few weeks ago and I was talking to a girl who just got married. I noticed she had a morganite wedding ring and I asked her why. She told me she read a book called "Blood Diamonds" and after that, she decided she wouldn't ever own diamonds. I was intrigued, to say the least.

So when it came time to pick a topic for my MCOM research paper, I decided to study diamonds. That's when I learned about the Kimberely Process and blood diamonds.

Super simplified, here's what that means: A blood diamond is a diamond used to finance civil wars in poor, African countries. This title doesn't do justice to what that truly means. I bought the book that my friend referenced and I listened to it as I drove home a few weekends ago. The book was heart-breaking. It was the hardest, saddest thing I've ever listened to in my entire life. The Kimberely Process is the attempt to stop these blood diamonds. However, in my research paper, I discuss the downfall of this process. 

Even if the Kimberely Process is effectively stopping the spread of blood diamonds {which it's not, as an FYI}, it still does nothing to address the other human rights issues of child labor and horrible conditions. 

One thing to consider is that not every diamond comes from Africa. In fact, as of the last several years, Russia has become the biggest exporter of diamonds. 

BUT a large part of our diamonds come from Africa. So yeah.

So this was a depressing little blog post but I had to write about something! But this topic is FASCINATING, guys. I think I'll probably talk about this in my next blog post too... {I know, you're over there reading this like "yyaayyy I'm so happy" *to be said in a sarcastic voice*}

image source

MCOM #8: quarter-life crisis.

Friends. I'm here to tell you that I've been going through a quarter-life crisis.

What is a quarter-life crisis, you ask?

It's kind of like a mid-life crisis but happens at the quarter point of your life. AKA right now, for me. If you know me, you know I'm a planner. I plan every move, all the time. I don't like surprises and I don't like last minute decisions. I like knowing where I'm going to be, with whom I'll be, what I'm be doing... at all times. My life was planned out perfectly like two years ago. I got home from a mission, I took accounting prereqs, I planned my every move.

And then I started questioning it. Then a couple weeks later I didn't do well on an accounting exam. {I know, that sounds so dramatic. "wow, Erica, you didn't do well on one test. you'll survive.} YEAH BUT THIS IS DIFFERENT. Talk about questioning life choices. It's a hard thing having your life plan feel like it's coming down crashing around you.

Then to make matters worse, I went to my Eternal Families class {that's not the part that made it worse, no worries. I love that class.} Our professor brought up this talk.

Read the whole talk, it's awesome. During part of it, Elder Eyring's father says this: "You ought to find something that you love so much that when you don't have to think about anything, that's what you think about."

I can honestly tell you that usually accounting is my favorite class. But I definitely don't have a passion for accounting. I don't ponder about accounting.

Long story short... I don't really know what I'm doing with my life. Obviously I'm applying to the accounting program, but my little quarter-life crisis is forcing me to think about other options. Not that I really have time to switch my life plan. Juniors in college probably shouldn't do that.

So, folks, stay tuned.

Things I DO sit around and think about ^^^ Russian sunsets. Everyday.

MCOM #7: loving a place.

Today I woke up and reached for my phone {like usual. it's a bad habit}. I opened the New York Times and jolted up in bed, gasping "no. no no no. no." Because this morning I saw the article that announced the bombing of the St. Petersburg subway. My heart broke. It's an interesting thing that we can love a place so much that news from the other side of the world can break our hearts. I love Russia. I love that place and those people. And even though I've never been been to St. Petersburg, my heart aches for the Russian people. And my prayers are with them.

A little while ago, I came across this quote on pinterest:

It sounds incredibly dramatic, but I can say that it is completely true. First I left a little piece of my heart in England after a semester in London, and then in Russia after a year and a half long mission for my church. It's one thing to travel places, to be a tourist for a couple days, and then to leave. But living somewhere shows you a different side of a culture. I came to love the Russian people more than I can even explain. And the thing about Russia is this: people don't understand it. It's one of those places that people just can't really fathom. It one of those places that people don't really know until they live there. At first, Russians come off as being really closed-off. They don't smile. They don't laugh. They don't love. That's all I heard before I went there. But let me tell you, Russians are the best people I know. They are the most genuine people I've ever met. Aside from my family, I've never felt so loved and so accepted as I did sitting in the homes of dozens of Russians that I came to love. In my little bout of reminiscing, I found my last email home. I listed the top eight things I learned during my time there, and this was one:

"My understanding of the words "trust," "love," "friend," and "promise" have changed. I've said it again and again but I love the Russian people. They have taught me what it means to truly trust someone. The word love has, well, honestly, freaked me out my whole life. Because I know I love my family. And my close friends. But man. Loving anyone else, let alone a whole country full of people that don't speak your language and come from a very different walk of life than me... I didn't think that would be possible. But...you can't help but love these people. My favorite quote from last conference was "love is making room in your life for another person." They are the best example of this! Today I was a Tatiana's house for one last lunch, knitting, and lesson. And as we said goodbye, I realized how much I love that woman and how much she loves me! (once again with the corny-ness) But she's wonderful. Love and trust and all that stuff is great."

I love Russia, in case you didn't know.

MCOM #6: HTML.

If I could use emojis on a blogpost, I would definitely be using the laughing/crying emoji right now because guess what?? I decided I love my IS 201 class. I don't even know why I'm saying that. I thought that class was going to be the worst class of my college career {no wait, that would have been the political philosophy class I accidentally took.} Nonetheless, right now we are building websites using HTML and call me a dork, but I love it! If I was still using this blog as a real blog, I would probably spend hours upon hours redesigning it using my own HTML.

I find it fascinating that you can just type letters and stuff shows up. And yes, I know that right now it looks like a website that hasn't been updated for about 10 years, but we're only on day two!

So, my friends, this is my story about how I learned to not judge a class until you try it. Maybe if I don't get into the accounting program I'll do IS {ha. I don't like it that much.}

MCOM #4: Share a Coke.

As a weekend assignment, we were asked to "share a coke." This means that we were asked to pay for someone's coke {or anything, for that matter.} Then we needed to write about it!

But first, let me tell you about Sodalicious. Socalicious is a little drive-thru restaurant dedicated to nothing but soda. They have delicious flavor mix ins, foam cups, and pebble ice. Basically, it's my favorite way to spend money. {however, I usually prefer a different chain called "Swig," but I was at Sodalicious for this experience.}

I don't really know what to write about for this experience. I went through the drive-thru, ordered my 24 oz. AK Special, paid, and then asked if I could also pay for the person behind me. The cashier gave me extra punches in my punch card for being nice, and I drove off. I have no idea for whom I paid, nor do they know me, but if felt nice! I got to drive away hoping that I made their day. Maybe they even decided to pay for the person behind them? If I had more money, I would always do that. As a poor college student, it'll probably be a few years until I can pay for random people on a regular basis... but at least I have a goal to work towards, right? Make enough money to buy people stuff.

So that was my experience. And I loved it!

MCOM #3: "The Power of Introverts"

I love BYU because every week we have a devotional or forum. At one of the last forums Susan Cain spoke. Susan Cain is the woman that wrote the book "Quiet" and is known for her Ted Talk "The Power of Introverts." This Ted Talk has been one of my favorites for quite a while, so I was excited to see her speak in person. Before anything else, watch her Ted Talk:

Ok, now that you've watched it, I can tell you all about my thoughts,

Before my mission, I considered myself an extrovert. I'm not sure if it was because of my mission or because I've changed over time, but I would now consider myself an introvert with some extrovert tendencies {in her forum, she called this being an "ambivert"}. For the most part, I have become fairly quiet and I get energy from being alone. While there are times that I love being in a large group, I primarily prefer being with a small circle of friends. I find myself needing time to unwind and be by myself.

And that's why I found her forum so interesting. Here are some interesting take aways I got from her forum:

An introvert is someone that can withstand or even crave solitude.

Our society is a society of conformity. 

We often mistake being an introvert with being shy. Those two things are completely different. Even though I consider myself somewhat of an introvert, I'm not shy. I've pretty opposite of shy.

"Give yourself permission to be who you are at any given time."

"Get into the habit of figuring out what your convictions are."

Her who forum was so interesting. I love to think about how different every single human being is. We all have different convictions. Some people love being around people. Some don't. I don't know. I'm rambling. It was just awesome.

MCOM #2: "tell me something you're passionate about"

I get this question a lot. And I'm about to tell you a little something about myself.

I'm a feminist.

Here's the problem with the society that I live in: "feminism" is thought of as a 4-letter word. When the word "feminism" is brought up, people instantly start thinking of radicalism and man-hating. I have a hard time with this. Because guess what? Feminism isn't being anti-makeup and anti-stay-at-home-moms and anti-men. Feminism is equality. If you want, you can call it that. But the fact that I've been on countless dates where I've been asked, in a surprised tone, "oh, so you're a feminist?" is actually appalling. OF COURSE I'M A FEMINIST. ARE YOU NOT??? Feminism is gender equality. Simple as that. It shouldn't be a big deal to say that you're a feminist. But for some reason, people make it a big deal. Please please please appreciate this video of Emma Watson:

So what does it mean that I'm a feminist? It means that I believe that people should be able to choose what they want to do with their life without the judgement of other people. That's it. Just because I want to be a stay-at-home mom with my kids when they're little doesn't mean I should judge women that choose to work {whether out of financial obligation or just because they choose to work}. And vice versa. If a woman is a stay-at-home mom, you can't truly call yourself a feminist if you judge her decision. But basically, I'm a firm believer in letting people do what they think is best for their life and not judging them for it. After all, I sincerely hope that people treat me with the same courtesy.

But feminism is so much more than whether or not a woman works. But I've decided that this is not the blog post for me to rant about my problems with society and the expectations of women {why the heck have we decided that women look better with black tar on their eyelashes??? ...that is me being anti-makeup, not feminism being anti-makeup, I promise} Why are there still places in the world that a boy's education is valued more than a girl's? Why the heck does human trafficking exist?? People, the world needs feminism.

The whole world. Not just part of it. The other day I was in a car and one boy looked at me and said "America doesn't need feminism. Sure, parts of the world does, but we're good here" FALSE. Remember that judgement thing I was just talking about? That doesn't just happen outside of America. America needs feminism. BYU needs feminism. Every human being on this planet needs feminism.

This brings us to the Women's March. Because people know that feminism is a big deal to me, I've been asked several times what I think about the Women's March. Let me tell you, if I didn't have intramural tennis last Saturday, I would have been there! And instead of trying to tell you why, I stumbled upon this blog post. While she has a lot of statistics that aren't backed up with citations, I love the general idea of the post.

Ok, here's one last little video I adore:

Ok. I don't have time to keep rambling about feminism, but people, I like feminism.

sometimes I wonder how I ever blogged.

Tonight I'm sitting by Kayla, we're watching our favorite TV show, and I'm trying to blog because I have to blog by midnight. But I can't think of anything to write. And that, my friends, is why I just turned to Kayla and said "how did I ever blog"?? Honestly, how did I ever write about my day-to-day life almost every day?? And that is the question.

So. Blogging is hard. I was going to write a nice long blog post this week about something but I don't have the motivation to write right now and I can't really think of what I would want to say. So this is me admitting that I don't really want to blog but I have to because it's an MCOM assignment. But the good news is that we can write about ANYTHING. Even about how much we don't want to write.

This week has been quite the week, has it not? The inauguration and women's march? That's actually what I was going to write about. So look forward to that! (not that anyone is actually reading this, but oh well.) Until next week!

MCOM #1: & puppies.

Hello! I'm back! How many times have I said that? A lot? Yeah. Well, this time it is completely honest because I am taking a class called MCOM 320 this semester and we're required to keep a blog. YAY! {kind of}. Best part? We can blog about anything we want, in fact, we're encouraged to blog about anything we want. Anything. So, alas, I'll start with a cute picture of Sister Kuhle, the two cutest goldendoodle puppies, and me. And if you just read "sister kuhle" and are wondering "whhaatt??"... yes, Sister Kuhle is married and yes, I still call her by her unmarried last name {she was my first companion and trainer on my mission, so "sister" and "kuhle" are how I knew her}. Habits die hard. Supposedly the rest of the world calls her Laura. I'll stick with Kuhle. Tangent. Anyways. Today we both got close to hitting our twenty hours of work so we decided to go on an adventure. I'm really enjoying not having Friday classes. So we went to the Puppy Barn and then found a wonderful new sushi bar! New favorite places.

So here's the life update: I loved last semester. I spent the majority of it in the library. And I don't think saying "majority" is even an exaggeration, sadly. But it was the best semester yet. This semester will be harder {academically} but even better {socially}. So we'll see what happens.

But I'm not really here to blog about my life. I just used the picture of the dogs because I once read somewhere that you should never publish a blog post without a picture. AANNDD I wanted an excuse to tell the world that my goal in life is to own a mini golden doodle (or a dog that's a mixture of yorkie, poodle, and maltese. It was adorable} Plus, I can't think of a better picture than two adorable goldendoodle puppies.

For our first blog post our teacher asked us to just write. He told us to sit down at our computer and just type. Find something we enjoy talking about and then just keep writing. Don't stop to edit. Don't stop to change things. So good luck understanding this:

A few days ago Kayla and I were spending time with a friend who recently returned from a mission. We had a wonderful conversation and somehow got on the topic of "remembering". He was specifically referring to remembering our conversion or remembering spiritual experiences we have had, but I think that the concept of remembering can and should be applied throughout everyone's lives. I think that looking back on our lives and the experiences we have had can be one of the most effective ways of progressing in life. Maybe I think this way because I love history and the quote about how we can learn from the past. or maybe it's for some other reason, but I like looking back. I like getting on facebook and seeing the posts that tell you what you were doing four years ago. I like thinking "wow, two years ago I entered the MTC" {which, as of tomorrow, is a true statement}. I really just like the past. And I'm not saying you should live in the past. I'm just saying that there's no need to feel like you can't/shouldn't think about or talk about past experiences. One of my pet peeves is when people say "so and so got home from their mission {or study abroad, or freshmen year, or whatever major life event happened in this person's life} and they're STILL talking about it." SO WHAT? There is a 100% chance that I will forever talk about things like my study abroad and my mission because guess what? I've lived life for 21.5 years and thus far, those were my most important/life changing/ influential experiences. I hope that it won't always be that way {because as much as I loved my mission, it shouldn't be the only life-changing experience I'll have}. But until then... I think it is a shame that people feel like they can't talk about the past. The past is what makes us us. So excuse me while I continue to make references to my love of Russia and England and how a little piece of my heart stayed in those places.

oh, hey {round two}.

alright, I'm back. for real this time. for two reasons:

1. I don't journal. I {sadly} even gave up journaling halfway through my mission, so that's not an option. plus pictures make everything better.

2. Laura, Kayla's mom, told me I should start up the blog again and I agreed! {thanks Laura!} Even if only my mom and Kayla's mom read my blog... good enough. Also... in case you all didn't know, Laura once sent me the greatest package on my mission, full of cereal and all. so. you know. not only did I luck out in the parents department, but so did my best friends. Long story short, I like her.

bonus reason {so I guess there's really three reasons} I want to put my pictures somewhere from my hikes and atv rides this summer. So hah, here I am.

I've officially moved back to BYU, as an update. I live with Kayla and Cady from freshmen year and we've already spent the last 72 hours randomly exclaiming "oh my gosh, we're together again!!". It seems like yesterday that we were standing in the Provo airport saying goodbye to kayla after freshmen year {so, this was in about April of 2014}, bawling our eyes out, and repeatedly telling each other "fall 2016 isn't that far away!". But we made it! And we're here! And it's been a fantastic couple days and school hasn't even started and the best is yet to come.

more updates: I feel like I'm not as weird or awkward as at first, so that's a plus. I still miss my mission a whooolllleeee lot but I've come to terms with the fact that life moves on and let me tell you, I am pumped for it. Also, I've gone on a post mission date. so, you know, progress. I'll be normal eventually. {once again, I still love the word 'normal'}

other updates, I got a job! and I decided on accounting as my major... first I have to get in the program. talk to me in a year about that one. and yeah. there you are, more than you even cared to know about my life!

let's talk about Colorado for a minute, shall we? It comes as no surprise to you, I'm sure, that I love Colorado. so very much. Here's some of my summer adventures:

These pictures are from a couple different ATV rides with my parents, my new favorite hiking place that Lori showed me, and Animas Forks {a way cool ghost town in Silverton}... I love my home.

yes it rained and yes we were soaking wet by the end.

Then on top of that, I got to go to California for a couple days! It was my mission trainer, Laura's, wedding! She and Keaton were sealed {married} in the San Diego temple. Oh my land, people, it was gorgeous. Everything about the wedding. I loved it so very, very much.

picture taken by Kaylee Barlow... the wedding photographer. She did a wonderful job!

this is Kayla Stockwell, she was my companion right after she was Laura's sooo you'll be seeing a lot of her. She's great.

This week some mission friends and I made borsh! Plus one of our friends from Moscow is here in town before he heads up to BYU-I. Oh, borsh is a russian soup. Try it, it's actually good despite what you read on the ingredient list.

And I spent the first couple days in Utah staying with my sister because I couldn't move into my apartment quite yet. We went to a pool party,

And that, my friends, was a very condensed version of my summer. Fear not, BYU posts are up and coming! Woot woot!

oh, hey.

alright, I'm back {sort of}. I actually decided not to blog anymore, but then I was standing in the kitchen with my cousin Barb at our family reunion and she turned to me and said, out of the blue, "you have to keep up your blogging!" and a few weeks later, here I am.

almost every time I run into someone the conversation goes something like this:

them: "welcome home!"
me: "thank you!"
them: "how was it?"
me: "incredible"
them: "how is the adjustment?!"
me: *how the heck do I answer this????* "it's ok!"
them: "what are your future plans"
me: *silent freak out* "I'm going back to college soon!"
them: "what are you studying?!"
me: *more silent freaking out*
...and so on.

here you go, I'll be honest to the world... the adjustment has been pretty weird. at first it didn't even seem like an adjustment. I got home, spent time with my family, started working at the movie theater again, got back into running, and enjoyed a little more freedom in my schedule.

that lasted a couple weeks.

and then I really started missing it. it actually hit me like a brick wall. one night I was driving home with Zach and I just started sobbing {this is me being really honest, haha}. I remember judging RMs so much for wanting to talk about their missions or for saying they missed their missions or for talking to anyone that would understand them in their language mission. I formally apologize to all of you. it makes perfect sense. I loved my mission, I spent 18 months pouring my heart {not to mention every waking moment} into the work and the people, and then all of a sudden I woke up in a bed in America. now I can't just turn to the person next to me and tell them about why I'm happy {in Russian}, and that is actually surprisingly sad. I've spent a night or two just looking through pictures and feeling sad. but I also understand that missions end and life moves on. and it's actually a little exciting! It's also a strange feeling because the mission I left is very different than the one that is there now. here's an article about the new law in Russia. {my MTC companion and mission president are quoted in this!}.  but I think it will have a positive impact, actually. or so my friends there say!

long story short, there have been ups and downs. lots of them. but life is good!

but here I am! I've spent the last couple weeks falling back in love with Colorado, third-wheeling my parents, skyping lots of people, and figuring out what I'm going to do with my life. so, it's been a productive couple weeks, I would say.

we spent Pioneer Days with my mom's family, like usual, and it was just as great as I remember. so we spent a week or so there. and other than that, this summer has been pretty normal {ATTENTION: the word "normal" is my favorite word and english speakers need to start using it more often. WHY DO WE NOT USE THIS WORD??}

and so that's it. that's all I've got for you. I'm impressed I wrote this much & thanks for the inspiration Barb (:

дома {home}.

well, my friends. 18 months later and I'm home. I got back last friday night. If we're being honest here, I actually didn't think I would continue blogging once I got home, but I did a lot of thinking and decided that if I struggled to keep a journal on a mission, I doubt I was going to get better after a mission. So here I am.

My mission was incredible. I think part of my heart is still wandering around Russia without me. The people I met, the experiences I had, the things I learned... priceless. When I was being released my stake president asked me "if you could describe your mission briefly, what would you say?" That's a tough question. A really tough question. But I decided on "life-changing". Because that's what the last 18 months have been. And I'll be sticking to that.

It's been really nice to be home, but of course I miss my Russia. My family is the best and I came home to decorated signs and blown up balloons and 'welcome home' posters and... well, the whole works. It was fun to spend a couple of days with my nieces and nephews and have a couple days to relax. My parents recently moved so it was fun to come home to a new house!

Well, that's all I've got now. Of course this won't be the last post about my mission, but this is just a short and sweet little post saying I'm home and happy! я вас люблю!

see ya in 18!

I'm off! Tonight I get set apart as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and tomorrow I enter the Missionary Training Center (MTC). I love this gospel and I love my Savior Jesus Christ. I'm excited to learn everything I can and to love the Russian people and culture. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have over the next 18 months to devote my life, full-time, to this gospel. I know that the Book of Mormon is true more than anything else in my life. It goes hand-in-hand with the Bible to be the word of God on the Earth today. I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ and I love it.

I'm so thankful for my family. I'm so thankful for my friends. I'm so thankful for this gospel and how it has changed my life. See you in 18 months!

And while I'm gone, I want to hear from YOU!

email: 
     erica{dot}decker{at}ldsmail{dot}net
***I'm allowed to email one day a week. I have limited time so I will be sending a mass email every week. If you would like to be on the list, let me know! Or if you just want to shoot me an email {DO IT} I'll reply! I will not have a missionary blog like many other missionaries due to mission rules for my safety and that of the members/investigators of the church in Russia.

address:

Dear Elder {january 2015 - mid-march 2015} They will print your letter and give it to me THAT DAY! And it's free.
     -> go to dearelder.com
     -> on the top of the page, choose "write a letter"
     -> in the letter selection, choose "Provo MTC", then "write a missionary"
     -> fill in your information
     -> then my name as "Sister Erica Decker"
     -> unit number "4", mission code "RUS-MOS", MTC departure date "Mar 17"
     -> then write a letter in the box and send it!

MTC {january 2015 - mid-march 2015}
     Sister Erica Michelle Decker
     Mar 17 RUS-MOS
     2005 N 900 E Unit 4
     Provo, UT 84602

Mission home - letters {mid-march 2015 - july 2016}
     Sister Erica Michelle Decker
     Russia Moscow Mission
     Muravskaya St
     Moscow
     Moscow 125310
     Russia

Mission home - packages {mid-march 2015 - july 2016}
     Sister Erica Michelle Decker
     Russia Moscow Mission
     Muravskaya St, 1 D, Floor 3
     Moscow
     Moscow 125310
     Russia
     phone: 7 499-424-0180 {this number has to be part of the address, too}

Oh, and as a going away present for me, you should get yourself a FREE Book of Mormon and read it! Then send me a letter and I'll be so happy I'll probably cry. Do it. It's my favorite book in the whole world. Oh, and also check out mormon.org. It's a cool place. And my mormon.org site!

ouray ice festival.

My parents and I spent our last Saturday in Ouray watching the ice climbing festival and hiking into Box Canyon Fall {like we do quite often- here and here!} It was as beautiful as ever and so fun to see all the ice climbers- SO MANY OF THEM- and the hundreds of people watching! I've lived 45 minutes from the Ice Festival and never been, so it was neat finally seeing it.

well. I like Colorado. a lot.

oh, and I go to the MTC TOMORROW. where has time gone?!