Sunday Walks

Love Sunday Walks...

especially when it is *snowing*

We were like a walking Ugg fashion show!

Kaitlin, Megan, Me, and Brooke.

We get so cooped up on Sundays, we've started

a tradition of Sunday walks.

Rain, snow or sun, we go!

Peru

Surprise!

Friends, Family, and Followers...I'm off on another journey.

Yesterday I accepted an invitation to go to Peru.

Since I returned from Africa,

my friend Carlie and I have been working with

Lynley, the professor that took us to Ghana. We are

writing a research proposal to publish the findings

we gathered from our research while in Ghana.

Yesterday, we were accepted to present at a

medical conference in Cuzco, Peru.

We will be traveling to Lima (capitol of Peru) in 5 weeks

along with many local Utah doctors.

For 5 days, our group will be presenting current

research to Peruvian doctors and medical staff,

as well as personal and public health,

organized response to natural disasters and

other medical related information.

Of course, we will be visiting Mount Machu Picchu,

spending one night camping at its base

then hiking it the next morning.

As for the rest of the time,

since I don't speak spanish, I along with

other non-spanish-speaking team members,

will be filling my week with humanitarian service

and lots of manual labor (uh oh).

I am so excited by this surprise opportunity

and cannot wait to visit a land and people

I never expected to see.

I leave March 20th, so stay tuned and,

as always, I'll keep you posted!

I am volunteering at the Utah State Hospital for the next few months. I am working in the children's unit in the classrooms. Today, I was switched classes because they needed more help in a new room. Before, I was working with kids ages 11-12. Now my little ones are 8 and under. Here are some of my favorite quotes of the day:

~While on the treadmill~

"Wowzers, he's ganna catch me!"

(might I ask who???)

~Another boy on the bicycle~

"Woo Hoo! My motorcycle"

(If I only felt the same enthusiasm)

~And now for my favorite conversation of the day~

Me: How old are you?

Him: Sssssssss.......eight

Me: Eight?

Him: But nine today

Me: Oh, is today your birthday?!

Him: No

Me: Oh, ok.

Fun on a budget

So, my roommates and I have been doing this experiment. It's called the "Let's not spend money for a while" experiment. Kaitlin and Brooke even went so far as to give me their credit cards and have me hide them. Yes...we're serious about it.These are a few of the awesome activities I have done 'on a budget'.

Kylie teaches dance at a nearby

elementary school, Northridge.

I went to their concert and it was

so cute to see her with all her kids~

Cost: $1.00

Then we got invited by some guy friends

to go to Park City. The girls were hungry...

naturally...so we stopped at this RANDOM

cheep little burger joint "Dairy Keen" that

was apparently dedicated to trains.

What???

Me and Meg

We found out that the snowboarder,

Shaun White, who is preparing for the Olympics

(think red hair) was boarding that night so

we went and watched him for a bit.

There were SO many people there, and you

had to climb up this hill and I was the

only one in my group with boots with

any sort of traction, so they all held onto me.

We rounded off the night with

dollar hot cocoa

from 7-11.

Total cost: $4.00

Then...I have been so inspired by all the fun

decorations on the shirts and I thought...

"I can totally do that!"

This is my first attempt, but I have bins and bins

of material and I plan on experimenting more.

It was fun to play with the texture and the idea!

Cost: $0.00

Finally...Some nights we have struggled

a little when it comes to what to eat.

Somehow, Kaitlin and Brooke ended up

here one night at a complete loss

as to what to make.

Pretty sure the discussion turned away

from food near the middle and towards

life in general. You just never know when

or where you're ganna figure it all out huh?

Me and Kaitlin ended up in the kitchen

at the same time and, laughing,

realized we had made the exact same thing,

both with our aprons so the

sauce wouldn't splatter us!

Summation:

Fun can very much be had on a budget

Three's a crowd?

NEVER!

The old roommates at Tori's wedding

Kaitlin, I and Megan at the opening

night of Cocoa Bean

(delicious cupcakes)

After hitting up the Park City outlets

Then we got in such a shopping mood

we bought the entire grocery store.

Pocket Pigs

Well friends, I got some bad news delivered to me today courtesy of papa bear. For some time now I have got it in my head that some day I would own a little pig. And I was under the impression that the little pocket pigs I found on line were, in fact, little for life. Oh no. Apparently dad talked to one of his patient's parents who works with animals and she said that these little pigs, sadly, do not stay little.

This little piggy went to market,

this little piggy stayed home,

this little piggy ate roast beef,

and this little piggy weighs 200 lbs!!!

Come on...how can you

NOT love this face!

Alas, I have come to the conclusion that I am now only left with one option. I gotta find me an Idaho boy. And fast!

Bowling

Our ward had a pizza and bowling night on campus tonight. The roommates and I had so much fun dancing and cheering each other on.

~I love these girls~

And I didn't realize till AFTER

the game that my ball said

"For children only"

(cus it was only 6 lbs.)

Luke 17: 12-19

And as he entered into a certain village,

there met him ten men that were lepers,

which stood afar off:

And they lifted up their voices,

and said, Jesus, Master,

have mercy on us...

I have recently been accepted to go to India this summer to serve and teach through a humanitarian organization called Rising Star Outreach. I will be working in the Leper colonies; bathing the feet and bodies of those afflicted, cleaning and painting homes, bringing water to the villages, and most important, loving the people. I will also be teaching and tutoring children in English one-on-one.

For those unfamiliar with Leprosy, it is a skin bacterium that affects more than 1 million people in India. The word leprosy comes from the Latin word Lepros and means defilement. These people are shunned from their communities because of their disease and are forced to live out their lives together in colonies with no access to treatment. The disease cripples the body by loss of feeling, digits, paralysis of the feet (why artistic renditions of the ten lepers are seen with bandages and crutches), and other skin pigmentation and ulcers. In the area I will be, colonies have come to be made up of families, with members who are not infected but are shunned by association.

I truly feel a deep pull in my heart that one of my purposes here on this earth is to meet Heavenly Father's children around the world and see them for who they are, eternal spirit sons and daughters of God. I have been so blessed with opportunities to fulfill this role I feel drawn to. I am excited beyond words to meet my brothers and sisters in India. Like with Africa, I have felt, for no obvious reason, a pull to go to India since I can remember. I feel so grateful to have had the opportunity to go to Africa and now India while still so young. My experience in Ghana was life changing and I am forever grateful for those I met and loved. I pray that my time in India will be a humbling and amazing experience as well.

And one of them, when he saw

that he was healed, turned back,

and with a loud voice glorified God

And fell down on his face at his feet,

giving him thanks...

Cousin Cocoa

Karin and I have maintained a long standing tradition of going to Baskin Robbins Dollar-Scoop Tuesdays for like 3 years. Tonight as I was walking home I was so cold I suggested maybe we should switch it up and go get something warm instead. So...

Love ya Karin!

*S'no snow day unless you have a snowball fight*

!!!!! Snow Fight !!!!!

Our ward went to the old folks home to sing songs tonight and when we came home, most of us just spilled out of the car (there were about 10 of us in Orin's car) and ended up in the quad for a

snowball fight. Excellent~

I learned years ago that

staying on the boys team often

is the safest side...so

I put on gloves and earned my

immunity by making the ammunition.

Unfortunately my roommates

stayed on our balcony which

overlooks the courtyard

and took A LOT more hits

than I did. Nice~

Look at our balcony! It was

just pelted with snowballs.

A little bit of the action with:

Abel,Dane, Orin, Zach,

Kaitlin, Rachael,Me,Brooke,

and Brock.

At one point Dane threw me over

his shoulder and ran to the huge

pile of snow and had me dangling

over it, but mercifully

held me just above it.

This semester has been easily one

of the most stressful of all. Yet,

I have been playing and living it up

like never before.

Chef A.M. Hyer

To treat myself after my crazy day yesterday (read previous post) I went to my favorite Health foods store Sunflower and bought ingredients for some yummy food. I got a Williams-Sonoma cook book for Christmas last year so I flipped through it till I found what looked good. This is how tonight's menu began...

White Beans:

Over medium-high heat warm 2 tbls. olive oil

Add one small yellow onion and

one red bell pepper (5 min)

Add 2 cloves garlic,

2 15 oz cans of white beans,

2 tbls. oregano,

1/2 cup white wine (grape juice)

and 3/4 chicken broth

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat

and simmer for 5 min.

Moroccan Burgers:

In a large bowl mix with hands...

1 lb. ground beef,

4 tbls. fresh chopped mint,

4 tbls. parsley,

small yellow onion,

1 tsp. cumin,

1/2 tsp. cinnamon,

1/2 tsp. salt

Split into 5-6 patties and grill

(I froze what I didn't cook)

Yogurt Sauce:

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 tbls. mint

1 tbls. parsley

1/4 tsp. cumin

This totally makes the burgers,

plus I added Roma tomatoes on top

and broiled pita chips

I was pleasantly surprised! This was a foreign dish with some interesting flavors, but I would definitely make it again. Just something fun, new and warm on a cold night. I recommend sipping on Starbuck's caramel hot chocolate and listening to Christmas music as you cook!

It's just one of those days

Ya know, somedays I would swear the Lord pulls a fast one on us and makes the day like 34 hours instead of 24. Let me break it down for ya...

*Last night there was, shall we say, some boy drama in my life and consequently I did not get to bed until 3 am, a rarity for me.

*I then slept for a peaceful 4 hours before jumping out of bed and heading to my first class. Nothing like giving a presentation at 8 in the morning to get ya goin.'

*I somehow managed to run home (almost literally...there was a point where I would consider myself moving at somewhat of a skipping trot) to finish my next powerpoint slideshow for my evening class.

*Oh wait, lets not forget the two papers to turn in for a grand total of 23 pages. Which wouldn't have been so bad had my printer not decided to do THIS to my 4th page...

...and then jam altogether. Off to campus I ran (in high heels courtesy of said evening presentation) where I managed to slip into class only 30 min late. Hate that.

*Then it was back to the library to print off the next who knows how many pages. Lets just say that the stack was thick enough that as I tried to staple it I actually turned to the girl next to me also mid-staple and said "Where are all the strong men when you need them?"

*I basically settled for two half-way-through staples and jogged to class.

(There was a brief moment here where I called for a quick chat with mama and that was nice.)

*"Anne Marie, would you like to present first?" Oh sure, why not! I think I made an audible intake of breath when he waved the 3 minutes remaining hand cus as usual, I was giving too much detail. (Just ask mom or dad about how they used to try to have me 'summarize' my books as a kid, and when I was done they pretty much felt like they had read the book too...twice!)

*Chilly walk home in the wonderful 22 degree weather once again resembling a sherpa in the Himalayas and...

I think I still have about 8 fully functioning defrosted toes.

Guys, some days are just long. But I would SO rather be busy then not, and I feel so accomplished. I have to remind myself to be grateful for this busy learning time I am in in life and love the stress. So not always easy. At one point today when rather choice words were coming to mind about my defective printer, etc. etc. the words

"I lived in Heaven a long time ago it is true. Lived there and loved there with people I know such as you..." came to mind and I started singing them before I realized what I was saying. And I realized what a short time this Earth life is and how every minute we are blessed to experience life, and all too soon we will return to heaven again and look back at life as the briefest of moments in all the eternities~

Still...I think I'll have a word in prayer tonight about the 'special extended hours' of today and how I'm not sure how many I could take in a row. To all you mom's...props! I know your days are 'extended' probably more often than not :)

Drama!

Ok, for all you ladies out there...

let me set the scene and please say this sounds familiar:

4 Roommates all sitting in one room (one on the counter, another on the couch, another in a chair, and the forth at the table), eating chocolate/popcorn/and otterpops, half dressed in street clothes and half in PJ's that you would never dare show 'real people', convincing one roommate (with strong rhetoric) that the x-boyfriend should in fact remain the x-boyfriend, sending texts to said x-boyfriend wondering why they broke up with you then try SO hard to be your "friend", doubting the text they just sent and wondering what ever happened to face-to-face contact, dancing around the room to Michael Bublé waiting for the response and...

*Taking a BREATH when its all over*

{and a sure sign its all over???

the amazing silence we're all sitting in now}

Props to my roommate for liberating herself and using us for support.

As dramatic as it was...it was super fun!

After all...going to college is about finding your bridesmaids,

not your husband right?!

Party

So I just wanted to share some fun times I've had recently.

Last weekend I went to Las Vegas. I just wanted to get away and go play with the family. My cousin has two little kids now (crazy) and since I was there over Halloween I saw them in their little costumes.

She made them!

(haha, both the kids and the costumes)

His name is Peter so he was Peter Pan

This little moment I had tonight....courtesy of my roommate!

Utah Fall

On Saturday, cousin Spence called me and offered to take me to the canyon again, but this time in Payson. He had heard of a waterfall you could hike to so we went searching with his roommate and friend! Turned out to be quite an adventure just trying to find the right road to take us up to the canyon, but once we found it it was a straight shot. We hiked up the little trail, climbed up and around the waterfall area, then took our time meandering down back to the car taking tons of photos on the way~~~

I was laughing cus it was like he was Chinese,

flashing the peace sign. haha!

Utah is so beautiful right now from all the fall colors.

For anybody far away...here's a taste of what

I'm blessed to see everyday!

I seem to really like up close photos.

You sometimes miss all the details from far away.

Polka dot leaves

Love this deep purple.

Even though lots of the pretty red and yellow leaves

are falling and gone now, the deep red mixed with

all the bare branches makes the mountains

look purple...always a plus.

We found an aspen grove and stopped to look around

P. S.

Sometimes it's just nice to listen to moving

water. This little river of waterfall runoff

followed us on our hike and we had to cross

over it on wooden logs along our hike. Fun~