Life comes at you fast...

Oh goodness. It has been a good couple of weeks since I last wrote of my life adventures. I apologize. I have been completely busy with school, soccer, work, homework, and when I'm not doing any of that, I'm to the point of exhaustion. I will recap that past couple weeks that have flown by.

So on the 6th I was able to go to a Utah game with my good friend Sara Hill. I love watching her kids! They're adorable. Her husband Jay is one of the coaches for the tight-end players. What a great game! Not to mention the seats- write in the middle of the action. 30 yard line and the 9th row! The stadium was packed! It was so much fun though, I had never been to a game before that. Afterwards we had field passes afterwards to go meet up with Jay and meet some of the players. It was so much fun, and we were on camera for about 5 seconds yelling "Girls Night Out!!" That.. was a great night!

Tuesday night my family and I went to see "BIG- the musical" at Hale Center Theater. Truthfully it wasn't one of my favorites, but the acting was good. Anyways, my sisters in-laws own the theater and I'm pretty close to my brother-in-laws family. So as we are pulling in I think that I see his brother Adam pulling into the spot next to us and I got so excited. I am quite fond of Adam and I think that he's hilarious. So I full on jump out of the car and very excitedly say "Hey stranger!" I just about gagged mid-sentence because this man standing next to me with a very, very strange look on his face was not Adam. I was not too humiliated seeing as moments like this happen on a daily basis. I just had to laugh when his reply was "Well hey stranger, nice to meet you." Luckily he didn't sit by me in the theater. That would have been awkward. Welcome to my life.

Wednesday I got to babysit my adorable nephew Cameron for most of the night. He is the cutest little boy in the entire world. When I sing "You are my sunshine" to him he starts to coo and kick his feet and arms around. He loves it. If I could steal him, I totally would.

Thursday was just a terrifically craptastic day. It went a little something like this. I get to Seminary 1st period and we're having this fantastic lesson on the "Woman at the Well". I love that lesson so much; it's a wonderful story and example. So my awesome teacher has this great learning activity outside for us. The point of the game was to fill one bucket with water and 4 sponges and have another bucket about 15 feet away and fill that bucket up with the water using the sponges. So we split into teams and my team decides to have two people running with two sponges at a time. BAD IDEA! This girl on my team is bent over the bucket squeezing them out and somehow, her head smacked mine. I mean smacked. It was so loud, and there was so much pain, I am truthfully surprised there was no blood involved. I can not focus, or see anything and I am swaying back and forth. My teacher was so freaked out I was going to pass out. Of course the other girl was fine and I'm so happy she wasn't hurt. It felt like my nose was broken and that my head was going to explode. I just start bawling- it was horrible! And then it was worse because everyone is crowding around asking me if I'm okay. Does it look like I'm okay? Because I'm not! I just needed to go sit down. Ha ha what a morning.

Then I get to choir next period and deal with my student teacher who hates me and I have absolutely no idea why. He just glares at me all the time and I don't even do anything. Okay well maybe now I do. I'm the type of person who tries to be nice, but there is a breaking point which has now been crossed so I'm done trying to be nice to him. Now I'm probably a little rude. I try to give him positive criticism but clearly he can't handle that. So this semester of choir will suck because of him.

Sports skills is not a good class at all. A). I know about 5 people in that class- which is fine, but limits my social life just a little. B). I'm not the most athletic person, only in things I have been in since I was little. Ultimate frisbee was not a good thing for me the first day we played. But I have gotten much better. So much better that I'm the only girl on my team that the boys pass to now. Which is wonderful. I get points for participating. This was the day we played against the team who has a really violent, brutal player on their team. Lucky us. Anyways, I score the first few goals and he catches on that I'm really the only girl they're throwing to. His solution: take me out. From this point on, any catch I go for, he totally tackles me to the ground. Hello, this isn't "tackle" ultimate frisbee. It's just ultimate frisbee. This kid is about 6'7. One time he jumped on top of my back. All 6'7 inches of him. That's a lot. Pretty sure I was not happy that class period. I felt better when he cheated, and still got beat by a girl. Stick it to the man.

(Note: This whole week I was extremely worried that I wasn't going to get a letter from Tommy because I hadn't gotten one yet. But not to fret, I got one, it was just a little late.)

I got my windshield replaced yesterday. It is so beautiful and clean looking. The smell is a little strong, but it will air out. I hope my poor jeep stays alive for at least a couple more years. Last night I went to the Murray game against Cottonwood. We lost, no surprise there. It was fun seeing everyone though. I have awesome, awesome friends.

So here am I, sitting at work now. Pondering lots of little things and thinking about the week. I had an eventful day of helping my family with tomatoes, going to see Maddi play water polo. I'm about to read a book. I think it will help calm things down. This is the end of my thought process at the moment.

Introducing... The band.

Oh goody! Yesterday le band and I had our first ever band practice. It was so much fun, and we weren't half bad. We practically wrote a song in 30 minutes. That's got to be somewhere close to pure talent. Ha ha now all I need to do is by me a decked out keyboard and we're good to go! Oh and a name would be good, we have a few ideas, but it just really has to be great.

First Letter!!

Alright people. One week down. And it flew by! And I just got my first letter from the newly training missionary Tommy. Wow! It was so exciting! He's doing great. Eating more veggies (finally!!) and putting on the pounds. It could only be expected. He's loving all of it. I was so excited to hear from him, and to hear that he is doing great. Better than great. I love being able to write, because we will have a connection on a different level where we're only able to write to one another, and not see each other while he serves. It's a great feeling to know that I am still so close to him and his heart, while he prepares, and then when he is going to be thousands of miles away. What a blessing.

So quick recap of the week.
Monday
First day of school. Went for about an hour and a half. Then got checked out to go get my braces off. Thats right baby. No more metal. Went back for the rest of the day and then off to home. Later that night I went over to Kris and Pat's. We made these delicious pasta with squash and zuccini. Mmm. It was so great I'm making it again tomorrow night. I got to talk with Kris about a lot of things, and it was great to be able to relate to someone who went through a few of the same things that I'm dealing with right now. Thanks for being there Kris, and thanks for the great food!!!

Tuesday
I don't remember anything extraordinary happening on this day, so that most likely means nothing eventful happened. Just the usual routine.

Wednesday
This was a great day!!! No a fabulous day!! School totally rocked, and went by super fast! Then I got home and just kept hoping that I had a letter. And I did! Oh my heart was pounding as I ripped it open. (Literally ripped; my fingers wouldn't move fast enough). My heart was filled with peace and comfort as I read the words Tommy had written. I smiled, laughed, and cried at the joyous words. I can't wait to write him back.
Later that night I had a soccer game. It was a good one. We won, naturally. Maddi came to my game and it was great to see her too. I hadn't been over for a few days. Wow life gets busy. Then I went to an opening social and hung out with a bunch of friends I hadn't seen for a few months. I even got sereneded to by Mike. Ha ha it was lots of fun.

And here I am today, looking at a long list of things that I desperately need to do, but I'm updating my life first. What a day...

Bye bye brace face!

That's right. No more brace face for me. Not now, not ever. Adios amigos. 4 years was long enough for me. Okay not quite four, but a couple months difference is not all that big of a difference. What a joyous occasion it was walking through the office today and sitting in the chair for 2 hours while they made my teeth shine. And although I was ansy and tired of sitting still, the long process was totally worth it. Now it's finally time for senior pics. Hooray!

Next 2 Years

Well, Tommy is now learning the Tagalog language at the MTC. For the next 2 years he will be serving the people of the Philippines.


The past week has been a little tough, okay a lot tough, I'll be honest. I know he is doing the right thing, and this will be one of the greatest experiences in his life, but I will miss him. Last wednesday (the 13th) I gave him the quilt that I made for him (i will post a picture when I get one of it) and it was really awesome. He had no idea, so I was very pleased. I had gotten every single person in his immediate family to give me their favorite scripture and then I cross stitched them onto squares. I then pieced the front of the quilt together, and had a lady from my ward finish the back of it. It was one of the greatest things I have ever accomplished so far. I was so pleased that he loved it. He went on to tie the quilt into his farewell talk, by taking every scripture on there, mentioning who it was from, and saying how it either had, or was going to affect how he served his mission. It was an awesome farewell talk. He's going to be such a great missionary.

I spent all the time I could with him over the past week because I had to get enough in to last me for the next 2 years!! Monday rolled around, and things got a little tougher. It kept hitting me that I had 2 days with him before he left for 2 years. We ended up running a ton of errands that whole day and it was great just being able to be with him. Even though he procrastinated a long list of things he had to do until the last minute, everything ended up working out just fine. I laughed the whole time, because that is such a Tommy and Carly thing to do. I have this little motto that I told him after we accomplished everything that we needed to do that day. It goes like this: "Procrastination is the universe's way of telling you: Stop, slow down, you're going too fast." This is honestly pretty much how I live my life. Ha ha

Tuesday was the hardest day for me. We woke up and ran a last minute errand and then I spent the whole day with him until he went to the temple and I came into work for a few hours. I headed straight over to his house for dinner after work, and we downloaded all of the pictures we had taken onto a cd for me. These are what now get me through the day. I look at them over and over again and I never get bored. I love them. So after dinner Tommy and I went downstairs to say our "I will miss you for 2 years, but we'll see each other when you get back" unofficial goodbyes. To be honest, they were kind of lame. I had so much that I wanted to say to him, but if I would have tried to say anything, I would have started crying and I didn't want to make things harder so we just held each other and there are no words to describe how wonderful it felt. Off to the church for his setting apart. One more hug outside and then into the Stake President's office. His blessing was so beautiful, and I know with all of my heart that Tommy is going to bring so many people into this Gospel. I get the goosebumps just thinking about it again! So afterwards I'm the only one who didn't get a hug (which is totally in all fairness) and we headed back home. It was hard knowing that everything we had done before in our routine was out the window for 2 years, so we actually really didn't say anything to each other up until the point that I started to cry again because I was headed home. All I could manage to get out was "Good luck!" and then Kim walked me to the car. (After all of this Nate said, "Well last night after you left, Tommy just looked at Shauna and I and said that was wierd having someone else walk her to her car." Thats so typical of him. Ha ha) So I cried the whole way home, cried when I got home, cried myself to sleep. Woke up the next morning and started the whole process over again. (Don't worry, I am better today! It gets easier!)

So yesterday I went and bought a lot of frames and put our pictures in them. My mom teased me about having a shrine for him. Ha ha not funny... His sisters have this tradition to go out to Denny's once someone sends a missionary (we're all waiting for one to come back at this point.) So off to Tommy's house (minus Tommy) and visit with his family again. I love how close I am to them all. I got so lucky with such a great boy, but also his family. They have been nothing but sweet to me. We had a few more tears as they told me about the day, but Tommy is so excited to get out there that I can't wait to hear from him! (I think he is mostly excited for the 24/7 cereal at the MTC) Then the 4 of us girls headed off to Denny's. Mainly because it doesn't matter how bad you look at this point. We enjoyed breakfast for dinner and ended up staying and talking about everything for about 3 hours. It was so great, and so sweet of them all, and really what I needed at that point. Thanks Kris, Kimmi and Brenn!! Oh also, I had been planning on making a calendar with 24 spots (one for every fast Sunday he is gone, because lets face it. That is a whole lot less squares to mark off than one for every day. (Ugh kill me now!) Anyways, Brenn shows up with this bag and hands it to me. Inside is 24 candy bars. One for each fast Sunday that I can break my fast with, and be that much closer to having Tommy home. She is seriously so great! Later that night a family friend came over and was teasing us about the candy bars getting old after a year. My reply "I will eat those rock hard candy bars because that means Tommy is that much closer to being home!!!" Mmm, dig in ;)

Then it was back to the house for a sleepover. When we got there Shauna gave me the quilt that I made for him and told me that I could sleep with it. Ah it was so great. Kim and Brenn and I stayed up and talked for a while in bed, and just laughed about all of the things we remembered about Tommy. Everything I see reminds me of him, and somehow I just know that that is Heavenly Father letting me know that He and Tommy are still with me, and that everything is going to be okay. I am so grateful that Tommy is able to have this opportunity and share the Gospel with those who need to hear it. I am also grateful for his wonderful family, and how much they all care about me. The Lord truly does answer prayers, and send us blessings when He knows we are going to need them.

Before I Die

So Tommy wanted me to tell him a list of things I want to do before I die. So here it goes:

- Visit the Eiffel Tower


- Go sky diving

- Visit China

- Build a tree house

- Go repelling

- Swim with sharks

- Visit every Temple in Utah

- Make a CD

- Fly an airplane


- Go on a rampage through an exotic jungle

- Eat the most expensive thing on a menu at a super nice restaurant

- Sleep under the stars

- Do some serious 4-wheeling

- Ride in a submarine

- Travel the world

- Learn how to surf (okay check out the freaking shark in that picture. Maybe i'll cross this one off..)


- Shove someone's face in a cake or something

- Learn how to dance

- Go on a cave adventure

- Laugh until I pee my pants

- Go cliff diving

- Paint a picture (that is actually good and recognizable)


At the moment I am too tired to function correctly, so when I catch up on my sleep I will continue my list of life long goals

Reality

I need more vacations. Desperately. I just got back from Bear Lake a couple days ago, and oh man it was great! Golfing for 3 days, hanging out on the beach, some family volleyball, my own bedroom, texting late into the night. That's the life. It was great getting to see everyone again though. We went to this awsome melodrama and I laughed the whole time. Seriously, the whole time. But then again I was sitting next to my cousins whose adorable laugh is contagious. Milkshakes, karaoke, a few rounds of Guitar Hero, I could get used to that kind of living. But, alas, reality ruins everything. I come home and have to work again, and pay the bills, and pay for gas. Register for school, get the things I need for school, and have the realization sink in that Tommy will be gone for 2 years in less than a week. Don't get me wrong because I am so excited for him to go, and experience this new step forward in his life, but I'm so used to having him all to myself for the past 4 months that I am scared as to what happens next.
No words would put into perspective how amazing Tommy is, and what a wonderful influence he has made in my life. I have never loved someone as much as I love him. It's been a wonderful and spiritual journey with him. He is so patient, and so willing to serve or help. I see the way he treats others, and the kindness he has for everyone and then I realize what I could be doing better at. He pushes me, and he makes me be a better person. I know that he will serve wonderfully for the next 2 years in his life, and I know that he will put in 110%. He will bring so many searching people into the light and the knowledge of the Gospel. He will be in our hearts and prayers as he serves in the Philipeans.