Nauvoo, the City of Joseph

Oh Utah looks so desolate now!!! I don't want to go back!!!

Nauvoo is so amazing. The horse and buggy tour, the Fudge Factory, Bookstore, and the Thanksgiving-dinner-style buffet were fun, but the pageant was the best thing of all.

When they said, "When you're here, we're here" at the beginning, I just thought it was a cheesy line. But they said it again at teh end, And it finally hit me that the pioneers who passed away were supposed to be saying it. and that warm spirit flowed through me. The actor who played Joseph Smith played Hyrum in the movie, "Joseph Smith, Prophet of the Restoration". He may not be the best actor ever, but the spirit around hm was so strong, you felt like he was the real Joseph Smith. And the person who played Emma was his wife in real life so that made it more natural and real.

I really liked the part where Joseph and Hyrum were martyred at the end. They didn't have a shooting, but it just explained what happened, and they walked off the stage together with their heads held high and a special light on them.

What made the pageant so good was the peaceful spirit around that place. The pageant felt real. After the pagenat, we got to meet the cast. There was a huge group of people around the actor who played Joseph. When he finally came to shake my hand, he looked straight into my eyes, and firmly shook my one hand with both of his. And he said "Thank you for coming" like he really meant it. And when he squeezed my hand, and jolt went through me, like an electrical shock. And I felt like I was shaking the real Joseph Smith's hands. That feeling stayed with me for a long time.

Longest Road-Trip Ever!!!!

I have about 50 million pictures to post, but seeing as I am on a very long treep, ans I forgot my camea cord, I can't post any of them. We drove 3 days to Quincy, Illinois, to visit our friends. They were in the same English ward as us in Tokyo. Then they had to move to Michigan, then here. Driving through Colorado and Kansas was very boring, but Missouri and Illinois are so green. Now I know why it was so hard for the pioneers to leave this and move to Utah. Like it rains so much here, most people don't water their lawn! There's so many trees! And corn!!! The 1st day we just drove 15 hours straight, through utah and colorado, and stayed in a motel just over the Kansas border. The 2nd day, Thursday, we drove through Kansas and into Missouri. We visited the Independence temple lot, and Liberty Jail. Yesterday, Friday we drove through the rest of Missouri and into Illinois. We saw Adam-ondi-ahman, and Far West. We finally got to our friend's house on Friday evening. And we've been pampered ever since. Today we're going to tour Nauvoo.

New Stuff

I got a new cellphone!!! Now that I have a job, I'm paying for it myself. People who know me well, email me and I'll give you the number. It's verizon, and I have unlimited texts with verizon. I have 500 texts with non-verizon users too. I can flip it and text like a computer keyboard. It's so cool! But the second day I had it, I dropped it on the cement. Ah, bum. At least it was only a couple of scratches. Call me!

And these are the new things I got a American Eagle:

These shoes are so CUTE!

I'm going to wear this dress to my sweet 16!

Can't ever have enough tank tops to layer

Friend Time

I'm taking my written driving test this morning over at the library! I hope I pass. So I need to go review right now. So I will keep this short. I've been hanging out with my friends almost everyday. But we're going to Illinois and EFY and then the summer is basically over. So I'm trying to get as much friend time in as I can. My relationship with my parents and my love life that isn't really a love life right now are a mess...I need to work on those.

(above: Eden, Noah, Sam, Cortney, Tashi, Liza, and Kember in the front with her dog, Vince)

(above: Sam driving me to work with Kember and Tashi in his convertible)

(above: Sam and Kember)

(above: Sam, Gina, and Tashi buying shakes and ice cream from me at Larry's)

(above: Gina and Kember are so lovely darlings, lovely!)

(above: Peoplez came to visit me at work!)

Friendship Needs No Words

I have not been getting along with my parents lately. Trying to work on it though. I'm a very passionate person. My emotions are extreme. I want to hang out with my friends more, my parents think I'm being "no work, all play". Aha maybe I am. But I can't help it. I love being 15 almost 16!!!

Well, the night of the fire, we all got together to hang out. We all went to the North Park. Here I am at the beginning, hugging the magical lamp post.

Sam and Brendon standing on the rock monument at North Park

This is the "squeaky frog" we foung at the park. It was so cute! It was lost and all alone, so we kindly put it in the mud puddles under the swings. But he hopped out. We were very nice to it. But when it got scared, it would squeak. Very, Very cute.

What is this rock, anyway?

Brendon stole my camera and snapped this picture of Liza. She didn't want her picture taken. Great face!

Fun-ness on the jungle gym. Tashi, Brendon, Sam, Liza, Jessica, and me

My "batsu ge-mu" for "take-no-ko-nyokki-nyokki-ki". Well, we were playing the baby bamboo game. Me, Brendon, Tashi, and Sam were playing it. We got so into it, and it got so intense, we stayed even though everybody else left. Whoever lost 3 times had to do a dare. Before we played, I said that if I lost, I'd put my face in the water puddle under the swings. Sam and Brendon didn't believe me. But I lost, and I put my face in the puddle, as pictured above. The second I pull my face up, Brendon says, "Oh darn...a girl put her face in a puddle. Now I have to..."

Aly & AJ

Aly and Aj are coming out with their new CD - Insomniatic today, so I think I'll do a timeline of them. They kind of remind me of myself and Tashi - 2 sisters that aren't even 2 years apart. Do You Believe In Magic was their first song. Potential Breakup Song is brand new.

Do You Believe In Magic

Rush


Chemicals React


Greatest Time of Year

NEW

Potential Breakup Song

Surrounded By a Ring of FIRE

Here's the wilfire story from my point of view. Earlier in the morning, Eden called us saying we should get together. But she said that she had a few chores to finish up and her brother, Noah had to get his hair cut, so when they were done with those things, they would call us.

So I was on the computer for 3 hours, and when I looked at the clock on the computer, I started to wonder why it was taking Eden so long and why she hadn't called me back. And it was almost time for me to go to work. So I turn around and look out the big windows in the family room.

It was orange and black outside. It was so thick, it looked like it was raining. I got all excited because of the rain. But I went outside to see if it was really raining, and it wasn't. It was really dry and hot, and the air burned your lungs. I hurried and called Eden's cellphone asking her if she knew anything about the fire, where they were, what they were doing.

She replied in a voice like she was trying not to cry. She said that Cove Fort burned, and Kanosh (she lives in Kanosh) was evacuated. Then we all started to panic. Mia and Noah started screaming for mom. And of course mom and dad weren't answering their phones! I called the Mitchells, and the Holleys, and nobody knew what was going on, except Sam had to tell me the story of his friend Brendon working down at the Subway in Cove Fort and his escape story that didn't help me very much at that moment. (But I forgive you now, Sam!)

When I started to think about everything, it really started to scare me. You could smell the smoke inside of the house. I had 2 little kids, and I had a car, but I couldn't drive it (legally, anyway). Mom couldn't come back to get us because the freeway was closed. So I called the Walls, and Sister Wall told me everything I needed to pack up. They were so prepared. They filled all their cars with gas and replaced their tires. But through all of this they were very calm. They said we could stay at their house with our stuff in case we needed to evacuate. They lived across the street from a fire fighter so they were very updated on what was going on.

I'm so glad I went to their house because we ended up making pizza, and "playing" tv and such things that made me almost forget about the fire. Larry even told me he was planning on me coming into work, because the freeway was closed and it was really busy. But I told him I probably couldn't come in. And I was feeling all guilty because I supposed to be at work, but Jessica W. helped me put it into perspective that I was the oldest, and without my parents, it was responsibility to take care of my family.

After things started to clear up, and nothing had happened yet, me, Tashi, and Jessica W. went to Sam's house to juggle with him on his front lawn. While we were there, his friend Brendon showed up, and Sam got a text that there was a pioneer dance in the barn, and nobody was there so we should come. So we all went to that, and hung out at the north park until it was our curfews. We were all so tired from the stress, but it felt like the fire threat had been a different day. And it ended up that Larry's closed anyway. So it was a very adventurous day for me. Talk about a lucky day - 07/07/07! And this was so big, it was on CNN!