Sweet Summer has begun!

SUMMER is the best time of year! I wish all year round could be like summer. I sort of feel like I am writing a song right now, so I'm going to stop...Anyways, life right now for me is awesome!!! I have a sweet mission call to Italy, I'm taking one class, and  I am UN-employed... Could life get any sweeter? 

Here is a re-cap of today's events, making up my first successful Provo summer Saturday: 

1. A heated game of Tennis with Aaron. Even though he beat me 4 games in a row, I won the last 2, and it re-ignited my love for Tennis in the summer time. The camera was on the self timer, and I hit my racket against my tooth running to try and get into the picture, hence the strange grin on my face! 

2.  Stopped at some little girls' Lemonade Stand on the way home from tennis....This just reminded me of when I was little.  During the summers, my neighbors and I would do car washes, lemonade stands, dancing shows etc.... ANYTHING for some spare pocket change. Of course the Lemonade was not "yumm it's so Delicious!" as the sign said, but for some reason we both felt obligated to finish it all haha. For 50 cents a cup, it was indeed cold AND refreshing! 

3.  Rode bikes around the round-about and caused a traffic jam...

4.  I bought an adorable Beach Cruiser! To go along with it I bought a bell, and a pink basket :) 

It was hilarious, because Derald was with me, and as soon as I picked out the bike, I headed straight to the Bike accessory aisle, to do work. We always make fun of our Mom because she has a bike that was "originally" a road bike, but she has tricked it out with so many accessories/things to make it more comfortable, that she has turned that into a straight CRUISER! hahaha she has everything from bells to baskets to a huge "pillow" of a seat. It is quite hilarious. Anyways, Derald was laughing that I am definitely related to our Mom! 

I have become quite close to my cruiser baby already! 

I rode it around Provo a bit, and even after Derald carried it up to my apt, I was cruising around my empty apartment! I love it and can't wait to ride it everywhere! Derald and I took Brim for a loop around the block, and Derald was so mad that he had to ride my old bike which is "sooo uncomfortable" compared to the new cruiser! hahaha

I was so excited when I found the little pink basket! I was searching amongst 5 year old little girls picking out Princess bike helmets with their Daddies haha. Since my bike is black, I had to get something to "girlify" it and make it a little cuter!

5. Went Swimming at King Henry! I miss the summers spent living at the King! We swam, got our tans on, and played PIG... I also was entertained by a green noodle for about an hour, and then watched good-looking men play volleyball for a few hours after that... Does it get much better than that? 

6.  Went out for Sushi at Happy Sumo with my big bro. Derald. Derald is one of the most quality people on this earth. We enjoyed good conversation and delicious delicacies at one of my most favorite places in Provo. We are such good friends, and I love having him so close! 

It's going to be a fabulous summer! 

back in P Town!

Well, after a whirlwind weekend up in Logan at my parents house i am back in Provo for the rest of the summer! The weekend in Logan was full of memorable experiences. I was able to go through the Temple for the first time, with all of my family there with me. It is something I will always remember for the rest of my life, it was amazing! The next day I was able to go to the Sealing of my brother Brock, his wife Amy and their son Daegan. They had a really cute get-together at their adorable house after the sealing with  some family and friends. 

Only 3 days left in Spain :(

I am sooooo sad to be leaving Spain on Thursday! This has been the most incredible experience of my life, and I am so sad to have to leave. Mostly it is just that some of my best friends here will not be going back to Provo for the rest of the summer, and so I wont see them for a year and a half! This Wednesday we have "final exams" at school...Although we technically have been on a "study" abroad, I feel like we hardly ever were at school. I took two classes, both of which I will be getting BYU credit for (which is very nice considering how much time we have actually spent in class, and spent on work etc..).One was Spanish Literature, and the other was History and Culture of Spain. Just as a result of all of the traveling weve done, I feel so educated in the history of Spain. I definately could tell you more about Spanish history than US history... We definately have been saving some of the best things for last though, here are some things we've done in the past week or so...

This was at the Reina Sophia Museum of Modern art in Madrid. It was AWESOME! 

Modern art is definately different from the historical stuff, but to me it is just so fascinating

trying to figure out the IDEAS behind them. The most famous piece we saw there was the

original Guernica, by Pablo PICASSO. There is so much behind every single line, color etc..

One could spend hours looking at it! Unfortunately we only stayed at this pice for about 45 mins..

We also went to another FLAMENCO bar. The Flamenco dancing has honestly been one of my favorite things. This one was in Madrid, and was seriously amazing! The dancers were a lot better than the ones in Granada, but I still think I liked the intimacy of the bar in Granada. It felt more "hole in the wall" more authentic...But seriously there is so much culture packed into these that it is always just awesome! My favorite of course was the dude in the tight fitting blue suit. He kept lifting up one tail of his suit to give us a little glimpse of his tight rear..Yea, that was a little strange actually...

I have made some amazing friends here on this trip! We have all been together for 

the past two months almost every day, and there are some seriously QUALITY people! 

Yesterday I had to give a talk in church. It went really well. I was really nervous, just because I was giving a 5-10 minute talk in Spanish. My host family here are not members of the church, but I invited them to come hear me speak. My Padre, Pedro came with his grandson and it was so fun to see them walk into the meeting! My señora owns a flower shop, and she made me a beautiful bouqet, it was so sweet! After I gave my talk, I sat down and a few minutes later little Sergio who is like 5, came up with Pedro and handed me these gorgeous flowers! They are so thoughtful and sweet! It makes me grateful for having been put with such incredible people who are so supportive of me in all that I do! I have been so lucky to truly have had a home away from home! 

This kind of looks like a wedding picture. Caleb really wanted to be able to be holding the flowers and have them included in the picture. We laughed so hard afterwards when we saw how this pic turned out. I even have a big ring on! hahaha

Adventures in Salamanca!

This past weekend we escaped to the South to a city called Salamanca! This was one of my favorite cities so far! It was so beautiful! No time to write a lot, but here are some pics!

I rolled my ankle last week when we were playing soccer. Therefore; I have been struggling to get around Spain. It makes it difficult for it to heal when all we do is walk! hahaWe called it the "sausage" 

On top of a Cathedral in Salamanca

Getting pushed in a wheelchair...The foot was pretty swollen...

Dancing on top of the Cathedral in Salamanca...