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 (:

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?!

christmas//mission farewell.

This Christmas was one for the books! It was the first time everyone has been together since before Zach's mission, and it won't happen again for two years. I finally got to meet my nephew {who is the cutest kid you've ever seen} and I got to hang out with the rest of my nieces and nephews. It was great to have the whole family back together! We're just as crazy, and loud, and hilarious {at least I think so} as I remember. For Christmas Ryan, Tiffany, and Zach are digitizing all of the family videos so that made for a lot of quoting and memories {"MMOOOMM, can you movie me doing a little dance?" "Zach, buddy, that's not cereal, that's laundry detergent."} All around, it was a fun&laughter filled week.

Caitlin was Mary for our Nativity play! Cutest Mary, am I right?

Is it really a Christmas Eve program without Mom and Danielle's Sleigh Ride duet??

Then we had even MORE family get into town for my farewell! My Aunt and her family made it as well as a few cousins on my dad's side and my sweet Grandma. We ate lots of food {surprise}, played lots of games {surprise}, and talked {a lot. surprise.} and I loved it. I have the greatest family in the world!

A picture in which both Danielle and Evan are blurry. photography skills.

My awesome sister-in-law and cousin were the masterminds behind this hot cocoa bar! ISN'T IT CUTE?? Thanks Tiff!

And that is the {not so complete} story of how grateful I am for my family. It's going to be a bittersweet 18 months without all of them.

Utah & New Mexico.

My flight home from London was an adventure. Let's first remember I no longer have a cell phone and I was tired and had spent the first good chunk of the day crying {it sounds like I cry a lot... I really don't. just when I'm forced to leave the most beautiful city in the world} My flight from Chicago to Denver was super delayed so I missed the connecting flight to Montrose. My parents and I were planning to leave the next morning to drive to Salt Lake but the little guy at the counter was bound and determined that I couldn't do anything but get on the next flight for Montrose {which, by the way, wasn't until 11:30 am the next day}.

So at this point I haven't eaten real food for 32 hours, I've been awake for 23 hours straight, and I'm frantically trying to figure out what to do by iMessaging my dad since I don't have any American coins to pay for a payphone and, well... it definitely wasn't a high point in my life. But the good news is that the angry man sent me to the United help desk and that lady was my favorite human being in the world. She took pity on me and as soon as the airport was paging me on behalf of my parents, she told me "hun, I'm not letting your daddy's little girl spend the night in the airport! We're getting you home!" {United is my favorite airline now btw} And so I flew straight to Salt Lake where Danielle picked me up and I got to sleep in and it was lovely. {and my luggage didn't make it but at least I had a bed so it was worth it}

My mom and I spent Friday afternoon mission shopping {small town CO girls don't have the luxury of lots of mission appropriate clothing stores... so we had to get all the shopping done in 4 hours} then Friday night I went through the temple! I've always loved the Oquirrh Mountain temple and it was so special having my parents, Danielle and Jayson, and Zach there!

and if you can't tell, it was super, super windy and freezing cold^^

And Saturday we went to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert! This concert is seriously one of my favorite nights of the entire year and I can't imagine Christmas without going. Well, Cady drove up and went with us! I LOVED seeing her for the first time since July! I missed her. And 2016//2017 when Cady, Kayla, and I are reunited is going to be the best thing since sliced bread. And I'm pretty excited for it.

Then we finally made it home!...for two whole days. And we were off to Albuquerque for my cousin's wedding. AND I GOT TO GO TO THE SEALING. guys, someday I'm getting married in the temple and I am so stoked. Plus all my mom's brothers and sisters were there and quite a few cousins. It was so fun to see everyone before I leave!

After the wedding we drove to the valley for the reception and my mom thought Zach and I were crazy for laughing when we were driving through the snow. The exact quote was actually "how can you be like this when we're staring death in the eye!?" ...needless to say, we just laughed harder. and the good news is that we survived so it's all good.

and we also saw lots of big horned sheep...^^ 

and I'm convinced these kids know more about technology than me......

late night food runs and good byes.

well... let's be honest, this is probably my last post before London! {especially with my slacking blog skills over this last summer} I can't believe how fast the last couple of days have gone by! And in case you're wondering, I still haven't even pulled out my suitcase to pack yet. ooops. Life has been pretty busy. proof:

Ice cream and Harry Potter with Kels

morning jogs have probably become my favorite part of the day. probably because I live in such a beautiful place ^^

Celebrating/mourning my last night at the theater! 3 years since I started working there, and I loved {almost} every moment of it! My coworkers were the bomb. ...and mark was a bonus since he doesn't work actually work there

Marissa was baptized! WOW. it was the best baptism ever.

Nathan gave his farewell talk! {and yes, I'm short} This kid is awesome, Ecuador is so lucky.

this is actually from forever ago, but our adventures this summer have been great.

Mom: Let's take a picture!
Us: make funny faces
Mom: No, serious picture!
Us: *immediately makes an even dorkier face*

We dropped him off at BYU today!

I said goodbye to my Prius today {"my" as in "my parents prius since they paid for it but just let me call it mine"} I'll sure miss you, my sweet little MJ. It's been real. We've had some great memories over the last year.

Guys, I went through some serious BYU withdrawls today. Serious. Dropping Zach off and getting to see Cady one last time was so bittersweet. I love BYU with all of my heart. Just seeing all those awesome kids walking around... ahhhh. While I was in the bookstore I started talking to two guys behind me in line and they just invited me to watch the game with them this weekend. Talk about me missing friendly {and handsome} people like them! {dang london. ruining my hanging-out-with-handsome-rms social life.} Also, when they asked me what year I was, it was the best feeling in the world to be able to say "sophomore" because I lost far too many conversations last year to the freshmen factor. Thank you for getting older. TWO YEARS TILL I'M BACK AT BYU, BABY. And in case you're wondering, right after those two {handsome} boys invited me to their football game watching party I told them I was leaving for a study abroad, so we started talking about that. Then my mom walked up and loudly exclaimed "and she turned in her mission papers yesterday!" dang, killer of a conversation. even more so than the freshmen thing. It's a rough life, ya know. *sigh* it's all good.

Tomorrow we head back home, then I'll have a solid 36 hours to pack for London! Then the real adventures begin (:

-Erica

wisdom teeth, say what?

today I got my wisdom tooth {yes, singular} removed. I only have two {maybe I don't have enough wisdom for all four?}, and only one of them had to be removed. they didn't even put me to sleep... they just numbed my mouth and about 5 minutes later, after some very intense pressure, my wisdom tooth was gone! seriously, I don't know why people complain, it was soo easy (;
it did mean that I had tapioca pudding for dinner and chocolate pudding for dessert. not too shabby! and I couldn't talk properly most of the night. and I had {and still somewhat have} one stellar chipmunk cheek. and it actually does hurt, but I can't really complain. One step closer for my mission papers!

I also forgot to mention that my dad and I rode Corkskrew Pass into Silverton a couple weeks ago! My parents love that trail but it's a little too hard for me to drive, so my mom stayed home and my dad and I took the Razor so I could see it! It was absolutely gorgeous and the top of it has the best views. {p.s. elevation: 13,000. yep. Me and my dad's walk to get to the top of the hill got me out of breathe} This sounds so weird, but I love being above tree line. We also drove into Silverton and ate lunch and had delicious fudge and it was fantastic! {hey. please also appreciate our Colorado blue sky. there's nothing like it.}

I love Colorado.

-Erica

zach's homecoming//ouray & black canyon.

wow, am I behind in blogging! As I wrote in this post, Zach is home! That means that a couple weekends ago a lot of the family came into town for his homecoming talk. We got to take them to Ouray and the Black Canyon... {get ready for an excessive amount of photos}

Ouray:

Black Canyon:

they told me to take a picture of her with the lizard. she was not amused.

Random:

sometimes my afternoon runs are marvelous ^

I was driving home from the store and, you know, saw this beautiful view. not the best picture, but y'all can deal.

Colorado is beautiful, right? 

-Erica