Elder Anderson

I'm having a proud Mama Bear moment.

Mr. Ryan Anderson is entering the MTC tomorrow and after learning his language will head to the Philippines, where he is going to tear it up!

Ryan was in my first EVER company at EFY! Way back in 07, he was one of my boys. I can still remember the first time meeting him. He had so much energy for life and the gospel and I just knew we were going to be the best of friends. And we did become that. That week he would always fight over getting to escort me. He wanted to go to classes with me, dance with me, sit by me, etc. He even threw rocks at my window on Saturday morning until I woke up to come out and hang with him until his ride got there. Seriously...that kid made my week and now has made such an impression on me these last 4 years that I will cherish him always.

efy 2007

efy 2008

still inseparable at free time.

efy 2009

even as a BC, he made me feel like I was his counselor.

gateway mall 2010

Ryan is just one of those kids that has a tender spot in my heart. I can only hope I have a son just like him. He always lifts up my spirits and I know he does that for a lot of people. I couldn't help but tear up as I watched him give his farewell talk on Sunday. He was so strong in the gospel in 07, but it's amazing to see how much he's grown. I know he'll do awesome in the field! He knows where his priorities lay...and that's with Heavenly Father. And THAT'S why I know he's going to be the best missionary.

Love you, Ryan! See ya in 2! Make me proud and return with honor!

TREEEEHUGGERSSS!!! :)

My own "Bucket List"

So...last night Alex and I watched the "Friends" episode where they all go through their 30th birthdays and how they reacted. Phoebe gets to do all the things she wanted to by the time she was 30, until her sister shows her their birth certificate and Phoebe realizes she actually turned 31, not 30. She is devastated because she didn't get to do all the things she wanted by the time she was 31. Well, that got me thinking. I really need to finish my bucket list. I started it in high school, would add a few here and there, but this morning I've really given it some thought and I feel I have come up with the perfect bucket list for me. So here ya go: (stars mean already completed)

1. milk a cow

2. ice skate in rockafeller center

3. ride a gondola IN Italy

4. ride an elephant

5. go to each continent

6. visit 100 temples

7. swim with dolphins * (August 2006 in St. Augustine, FL)

8. see Celine Dion in concert * (April 2011 in Vegas)

9. get married to an amazing man in the temple * (August 12, 2011 :)

10. have children with this amazing man

11. see a Braves playoff game * (October 2010 in San Fran)

12. go to a real fashion show

13. go on a humanitarian mission to a cool country

14. help someone's testimony * (EFY, EFY, EFY...but always trying on this one)

15. always be healthy

16. forgive others

17. learn how to ballroom dance

18. walk/run in a race for a terminal disease

19. ride a jet ski

20. learn how to play golf

21. climb the Eiffel Tower

22. go horseback riding on the beach * (August 2011 on our honeymoon on Amelia Island, FL)

23. be able to communicate in spanish

24. learn the 100 basic ASL signs

25. learn how to play the Ukelele

26. make a CD with my own songs

27. go snorkling

28. write thank you notes and send them to everyone who has influenced me in my life

29. learn how to do a Rubik's Cube

30. see Justin Bieber in concert

31. have a sunflower and wildflower patch in my garden

32. see a live Olympic event

33. ride in a hot air balloon

34. see tulips in Holland

35. kiss my husband at the top of the Eiffel Tower

36. visit all 50 states

37. do something to get on Ellen

38. audition for SYTYCD * (February 2007 in SLC)

39. invent something

40. listen to every piece by Frederic Chopin

41. build a treehouse

42. learn how to sew

43. Go to a jazz club at the French Quarter in New Orleans

44. be on a game show

45. go to a big event holding a "Free Hugs" sign

46. get pampered at a really fancy spa

47. see a Broadway show ON Broadway

48. hop a mile on a bouncy ball (inspired by Phoebe from "Friends)

49. kiss my husband under mistletoe

50. visit CoCo Chanel's apartment and boutique at 31 Rue Cambon in Paris

51. send a message in a bottle

52. take a train

53. go to Hollywood and drive through Beverley Hills

54. cross the intersection at Abbey Road

55. sing the national anthem in D.C.

56. sleep in a castle

57. volunteer at a soup kitchen

58. go to a PowWow

59. eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich every day for 2 weeks

60. learn about the lives of the latter-day prophets

61. do a 365 photography project one year

62. eat Belgium Waffles in Belgium

63. read 25 classic books

64. carve my name and a heart into a tree with my husband

65. go on a European vacation

66. always pay my tithing

67. see Sara Bareilles in concert * (November 2010 in SLC)

68. run a lemonade stand with my kids

69. write my life story

70. buy a polaroid camera

71. participate in a mud fight

72. spend all day in a wildflower field doing whatever i want

73. memorize "The Living Christ" and "The Family: A Proclamation to the World"

74. go to a Nascar race

75. take a paddle boat on the Mississippi River and read excerpts of "Huckleberry Finn" and "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" while riding

76. go on a Disney cruise

77. be content in life and always trusting the Lord

78. Go to Michael Jackson's Neverland

79. kiss in the rain (like really kiss.)

80. visit a redwood forest

81. go to the world's longest yard sale (Michigan to Alabama)

82. be a street performer for a day

83. go to a drive-in movie

84. eat breakfast at Tiffany's on 5th avenue while dressed up like Audrey Hepbern

85. take a picture with a celebrity * (Matt Damon, fall 1999, Savannah...but I'm always up for more :)

86. have a paint war

87. have a picnic in Central Park

88. learn the Thriller dance

89. see the Hill Cumorah and Manti pageants

90. teach a child how to play an instrument

91. donate to a charity

92. go to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

93. learn how to do a cartwheel and a hand stand

94. take a pottery class

95. go to a Luau in Hawaii

96. take a hip hop class from Napoleon & Tabitha

97. ride a bicycle built for 2 with my husband

98. hold an exotic animal

99. spend a week at Walden pond

100. be the best wife and mother i can be

101. document all of it with pictures, journal writing, video, etc.

(subject to be added to)

So there ya have it...101 things I want to for sure do before I kick the can.

I've already completed 9.

Only 92 more to go! :)

Randoms.

-an Asian couple lived here before us. and apparently she loves catalogs. cause we get them now. at least she got good magazines because i really enjoy getting one every day. HELLO Nordstrom and Urban Outfitters!

-speaking of Urban Outfitters, did you know they have a warehouse in Trenton, SC? (bet you didn't.)

-also...I want a chair from Urban Outfitters. it's called Madeline. how awesome. too bad it's $350. see ya next time, Madeline.

-we recycle now since we have a recycling bin. i kinda love it.

-i made delicious chicken tacos last night. alex ate 4...mission accomplished.

-i never thought i would love the idea of getting tupperware and kitchen utensils. but i do. that means i grew up at some point...BLAH. when did that happen?

-i bought enough flour and sugar to last us probably 2 years. yay case lot sale at Smith's.

-i still love my living room rug.

-kris, alex, and i skyped with karly and laela yesterday. it was glorious. i miss that AZ duo.

-i am going to use my kitchen aid for the first time as soon as i am done with this post. i am going to make cookies. yay case lot sale at Smith's...again.

-i miss provo. (but don't tell alex cause he feels bad that he took me away from there. but he reads this blog...oops...love you :)

-i still love new haven and all those lost teenage girls. bless them.

-putting together our apartment is taking WAY more time than i ever anticipated.

-santa barbara reception in less than a month! WOOT.

-we went on a date last friday to rascal flatts. we ate nachos, went in the free photo booth, and danced our little country souls out. (well...me so more than him...but he still loved gary, jay, and joe don.)

-i've made our bed way more times being married than i ever did in my single life.

-i wish gas weren't so blasted expensive.

-krista's coming to my adult hip hop class and i'm way happy about that.

-and lastly: i had a dream last night that John Mayer came to perform at our Stake activity. yeah ok...cause that would happen. anywho, Johnny boy agreed to come to a room and do a private performance for Alex and me. don't know how that happened either. BUT John played "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room" and my man and I slow danced. um....nothing more romantic than that. if only it had been real...

-happy thursday!

Sister Forbes & Mermaids.

K, first...I am happy to announce that my dear friend, McKell Lyn Forbes, has been called to serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Milan, Italy!!!! Um...Italy is her favorite place in the WORLD! She loves it with all her heart and soul. So this is quite amazing she is now going to be a missionary there since she already has a love affair with it. Talk about dream come true! She reports on Nov. 16, and I am OH so proud of her! This has been a big decision for her and I'm so happy it's happening!

And in other news...

Alex and I have to go down to Santa Barbara for our 2nd reception in early October. I was trying to think of something fun we could do during our road trip since it is a long drive. Then I remembered seeing "The Little Mermaid" is going on at Tuacahn, which is on our route. So I looked it up and it will still be playing then! AND, nosebleed tickets weren't all that expensivo, so we got 2! I am SO SO SO excited! The Little Mermaid is one of my favs (and Alex's too). I watched The Little Mermaid so much when I was 3-4 that I broke my first VHS and they had to buy me a new one. Alex didn't quite break his, but he watched it an awful lot as well. We're just two peas in a pod, aren't we? :)

Ariel...I'm a'Comin!

AHHH!

Our first night in Florida.

What are newlyweds to do when you get to Florida and it's thunderstorming outside?

(Ok...well I know y'all had an idea of something we could do. But no.)

Perfect solution:

Watch "Aladdin," eat Cheez-Its, and take PhotoBooth pictures.

It. Was. Awesome.

Kids in the dumpster?

So being as we live in married student housing, there are more than just adults at said complex.

There's babies, infants, toddlers, and even a few grade school children.

Our favorite kiddos to watch are these 2 black kids that live in our court.

The boy is probably 7-8 and the girl is probably 5-6.

They ride their scooters like nobody's business around the sidewalks.

The brother usually tries to crash into his sister.

We may have laughed when we witnessed it.

The other day Alex and I came home from some errand and we saw the little black boy positioning himself between the trash dumpster and the recycling dumpster.

I was like, "what is he doing?!"

Then, he reached in the recycling dumpster and pulled out a large tupperware that I, yes myself, personally put in there only hours before.

It had no top, it was starting to yellow, and just not too useful anymore so I threw it in there earlier that day.

I seriously couldn't believe it, I was laughing so hard.

Alex couldn't figure out why I thought it was so funny, until I told them that was our tupperware.

Then he had a good laugh as well.

The little boy hopped down and ran.

We saw him show his sister and who knows what they did with it.

Then on sunday while Alex and I were throwing the baseball back and forth, the little girl had a cardboard box (which she dumpster dove for) in her hand.

Alex asked her what she was going to do with it.

She said, "Play with my brother."

She said it in such a "duhh...what else would I do with it?" tone in her voice.

I guess the saying "One man's trash is another man's treasure" really is true.

Alex and I tried to think about all they could possibly be playing with the cardboard box and plastic tupperware.

My personal favs were train cars and space shuttles.

Maybe I should go dumpster dive in the recycling dumpster...