My Sanity

too much free time

What have I been doing with all my free time now that I don't have a job/school, you ask? Well my days usually consist the following:

1. Waking up too early to make dad breakfast (I know right)

2. Going running in the forests of NC (which brings me great joy as I listen to the crickets and drink in the wildflowers all the while listening to General Conference talks in Chinese)

3. Going to DYSA activities. In the span of one week, I have done the following things with the single's ward: Fireside, FHE, ward volleyball, temple trip/treat night, another volleyball night, institute, ultimate frisbee night, dance party. Overboard much? Possibly. I have at times questioned whether attending this number of activities is productive and a good use of my time. However, I was reminded by Sister Oaks last Sunday at the CES Fireside that we are not saved in isolation. Going to activities is one way to build people. People are important.

And, let's be honest, since I don't have anything else to do and am usually starved of any social interaction all day, there's really no reason not to go. Especially when I remember that life will not always be this slow-paced, even starting in a week or so.

4. Working on my mission book. I have spent probably 20 hours this week reading through my mission journals, pulling quotes and experiences to include in a book I am creating on my mac. It's been a "neat" experience (look, I'm picking up dad's lingo, too) to read them; I have found myself desiring to be more valiant and to pray more fervently as I think back on the power, revelation, and happiness that results as I do so. This has been the first time that I have had the time and energy to reflect back on my mission since I came home 2 1/2 years ago. (Yes, I'm old. Thank you.) I was thrown into BYU schooling/social life 1 week after coming home from Taiwan and haven't had a "break" since. So I think this is good for me to stop and reflect. In fact, I think it's been the only thing that has kept me remotely sane this past week.

Here is a teaser experience from my mission album that I thought was quite entertaining (written one week after going to Taiwan):

“Tonight we taught the Xu family. The mother is searching for a church and both are really smart. I can’t understand a thing they say. It’s so humbling. And the father said I look like I understand 10%. Anyway, tonight he was talking about prayer. He said how the first time he saw someone pray there was no feeling. Then he saw me pray. He said there was feeling and sincerity and that he hasn’t seen anyone pray like that. He then commented on the fact that maybe it was because I was trying to think of all the Chinese I knew...I don't really know which of those is more true.”

Sending the best from Pa Ma and L. xoxo

The Things I don't Post about.

1. How much I love my four sisters
2. The joy of Baja fish tacos

3. How cute my nieces and nephews are

4. My trip to Ashboro Zoo with Angela (August 29, 2011)

5. How I have eaten 6 TCBY parfaits in the last 3 weeks

6. My last visit to Jenni & Heber Sheffield in Lehi, UT (she was one of my closest friends from Provo)
7. The awesomeness of my last roommates Cass, Ronnie, Kasia, Dezi (Lauren, too)
8. How much I miss my bestest friend Jami
9. Watching The Sound of Musical at Sundance theater (August 5, 2011)

10. Tubing in Lava Hot Springs, Idaho with Andy, Kasia, Terry, Whitney (August 2011)

11. The Springville Triathlon I competed in (July 31, 2011)
10. Our 3-day rafting trip in Oregon (June 22-25, 2011)

11. My sweet finds at thrift world (skirt)

12. How much I hate being unemployed

13. My new-found love of Ultimate frisbee

14. My trip to visit my roommates in Idaho (August 12, 2011)

15. My love of the beach

North Crack, I'm back!

Things to be aware of if you decide to move to North Carolina any time soon:

1. Cockroaches roam the kitchen at night. Think twice before you go get a midnight snack. It might be a cockroach sandwich (what-what!)

2. This is what happens when you go running here:

3. There aren't only white people here. And sometimes people dress immodestly (!!!!)

4. That lady at the grocer's seems 10 x nicer because she called you "sweetie." You may or may not respond in a country accent.

5. Your best friend from the womb may have become a southern belle after living here for just a few short years. This may happen to you.

6. You may spend your Friday night playing Speed Scrabble with your 60+ year-old parents, and that's cool. Because you have no friends anyway.

7. Get used to seeing people wear polos, khaki shorts, and rainbows - and get used to not judging them for this.

8. You may be surprised that people out here don't really curl their hair nor do they really even FIX it - gives me the option of NOT blowing my hair every day, I'm cool with that!

9.Get used to feeling extreme amounts of stress and feeling like THIS because you don't have a job and you are a recent graduate:

10. If you live at the Hatch residence, get used to eating 5 x more vegetable servings per meal than you did in the past year of your life away from home.

Nihao, North Carolina.

Speed Scrabble w/ M. Hatch

Mom might feel left out. So here is all of her glory as I beat her in SPEED SCRABBLE! What what!

Photo Sesh with Pops on a Stormy Sunday Afternoon

Living at home may or may not have made me go momentarily crazy...
Until I thought of a new goal...Converting Dad to....dun dun dun
JUMPING PICTURES! Check it out...
Dad decided the weather was really cool and he wanted to do a photo session outside. This is the face he did when I said "Make a funny face!"
And for this photo, he told me to put that this is what he will look like "In all his glory" when he is translated...
Pretty glorious, no?

I'd say so....

Responsibility

I realized that all I post about are the FUN things I do with my time. Just so you all know, I have actually spent the majority of the last three months doing this:

Applying for jobs online. I have probably applied for more than 200 jobs online. I have a few interviews lined up, but I'm not sure how credible the jobs/companies are. I have also done a lot of research about Nursing Schools and plan on applying for more than just UNC-Chapel Hill when the deadlines come closer (a lot of the applications aren't even open for next year yet).

And here are the details of my current life situation:
Have applied at many jobs, hoping to get one that makes good money. Plan on going to Nursing school in the future, either at UNC-Chapel Hill or another school in many different locations, including DC area, Texas, Washington, or Salt Lake.

Now that you have those details, please don't ask me what my plan is, or how I feel about leaving Provo, or whether I think I'll ever get married, or comment on how I'm crazy to leave Provo unmarried (I have actually had people tell me that, and that I should stay here and get married).

I am leaving Provo on Friday and yes, it does freak me out so please don't ask me how I feel about it. kthanks, bye.