back in action

home once again, well been home for a week now, but good to be home.

i feel like a lot has happened in the last week, but yet, nothing really has.

i move out in ONE week! counting down the days. soooo excited. mom has been so great with helping me to know what i'm going to need. we've gone out and bought a new duvet cover for my bed, and iron, ironing board, kitchenware, pots, pans, etc. woo!

i've decided i love milk duds. yum. i bought a box, took them to the drive in and they tasted like the box. eww. but i left them in my car tuesday allllll day, they melted into one big milk dud. i broke them apart. just delicious.

i've gone swimming a ton. maybe too much?

trying to find a part time job. i'm wanting to work at the graphic design department at UVU. i have a friend that works there, i'd be an intern. i really want it. graphic design is my major... fyi. i'll be SO pumped if i get it!

i went to the clap your hands say yeah concert last night. it was a blast. went with my new friend, brooks, she's a funnnn girl. delta spirit opened, they are just grand. i saw them a few months ago when they opened for matt costa.

didn't ever blog about this, but i finally got a new phone a couple weeks ago, my old phone was a brick, but could withstand anything. i bought a nokia, didn't know if i'd like it, i LOVE it. it plays music quite loud, and i just love it.

my new music obsessions are Free Fallin'-the live cover by John Mayer. i've listened to it at least 50 times today. i've also been obsessed with the MGMT album. i also have this weird thing for Chris Brown. i lovvvve him! :)

2 A.M.

it is now 2 a.m. and i'm not in bed. we are leaving to canada at 5! yikes. oh well.
last two days have consisted of, working allllll day, then going to a concert, dancing, and spending time with awesome friends. love it.

the faint concert-great. it wasn't "life changing" as bryce called it. but it was good, a good concert.

isaac russell-SO great. SO great. he's just talented. he opened so didn't get to hear much. but if you haven't heard him, you must. www.myspace.com/rurumusic.

tomorrow it's off to canada, my ipod is dead, gotta charge it, or i might die without my led zeppelin and csny (both of which are favorites, but been listening to a lot as of late).

won't have phone service, just going to be hangin in beautiful british colombia with the family, i'm really so excited! see you all in eight days!

party!

so over the course of the next few months i will be attending some great performances put on by music artists that i truly enjoy on a daily basis.

tonight the faint, then an after party d-jayed by the faint and hosted by a boy i know.



tomorrow night isaac russell. local young fella (16), absolutely talented.



august 21st clap your hands say yeah. freeee concert downtown.



august 28th broken social scene. another free concert downtown!



september 3rd ratatat.



september 15th CSS. an awesome brazilian band!



this is the most i think i'm most excited for yet...

october 25th YELLE. a french pop artist. SO COOL.



i think there will be more, but this is it for now. what a fun fall i have ahead of me.

done, and done.

so i quit my job at icon security. boy am i glad to be outta there!

i really liked everyone i worked with, but the job was really hard on me, dealing with upset customers EVERY SINGLE PHONE CALL. don't even worry. it's very mentally wearing.

just a warning to ever person i care about, don't open your doors to door to door salesmen, and PLEASE read every contract you sign... hahaha! that's what i deal with everyday!

anyways...

dad has offered me a full time job for the month of august, and i'm in the process of finding a new job for when school starts. i'm looking into a job working at the graphic design department at uvu. but we'll see bout that.

going to canada with the family this weekend for a family reunion, friday, saturday, and sunday. monday we go to lake shuswap! yes! seriously the most amazing lake i have ever been to.

bloggin

my brother has joined the bloggin world! yes!

this was my blog for when i was living in ecuador, but i'm now back into life, and back to reality. so i'm changing, aight? coo.

life in the last two months since i have been home has consisted of working, and traveling. i went to paris and london with the fam, then went to new york to visit my brother who's living there for the summer for an internship.

i've been working two jobs, one, icon security, and two, m3 research (my dad's company). it's all been keeping me busy and i've still found time for play. this last thursday i went to a free concert in salt lake at the gallivan center and saw the cool kids. mikey, one of the rappers, SO HAWT.



i'm gangsta.



liz and i were taking pictures of ourselves.



hillary, me, brooks.



coooooooool kids



yikes.



hey baby boi wit da mullet.



MIKEY be ma boooo.

post script

my camera got stolen a couple weeks ago, so i don't have anything amazing to share.

dang.

but i'm getting pictures from all the other girls.

nbd.

bad blogger

SO. it's been quite sometime since i last blogged. i've been SO busy!

ali is coming tonight! we pick her up from the airport at 845. she called me yesterday morning wondering what she needs to bring, what the weather is like and all that jazz... and i asked her if she could bring me some twizzler nibs, i've been craving them! she laughed at me, but she's bringing them. i'm so excited to show her ecuador, and for her to meet all my little ones i've been working with. she's going to cute some hairs too. i'm so so excited! this day needs to go faster!

i have only eight days left on my adventure. eight days! wow. this week is going to fly. today i have one shift with my little ones, tomorrow two shifts, wednesday one day shift and banquet (for the "old" girls leaving) and a night shift! thursday two shifts, my last day. it's going to be really hard. i know it. then on friday go to the jungle (amazon) until monday, then fly home tuesday morning. weird, but i'm really excited to get home. i know i'm going to miss the kids. a LOT. i miss my family a lot, i'm excited to spend a lot of time with them.

the following monday i'm going to europe! first to london then to paris. amazing. with mom, dad, and blake. amazing!

i'm going to get all my pictures printed and i'll be ready to share with everyone and anyone. this has been an experience i will never ever regret, and never forget.

i'm just thrilled

OKAY. so yesterday morning i called my best friend ali to check up on her and to say hello. we were just chatting about my time here, and about how things were at home. i started to tell her how i was trying to convince my parents to send my little brother here to visit, but i didn't really think it would happen (which it isn't, but it's okay), and i had the brilliant idea that ali should come down! yes just a brilliant idea. she loved the idea, told me she'd talk to her parents and see if they'd help (since her 21st birthday is on May 16th). she told me she'd talk to them in the afternoon and for me to call when i got home from shift.

i went to shift thinking... i wonder if this is really going to happen, i really really really hope it does. it would make this trip just that much better.

i got home and called her. the first thing she said was, when is the best time for me to come, and when is your flight home. she was at the computer trying to get a flight. she's really coming!!!!

wow. i can't believe how excited i am. it's going to be so much fun!

brain dump

life here has made me realize many things, appreciate many things, and grow to love many things...

-i try to talk to my family about once (if not more) a week. i have always cared for them so much, but being here has made me love them much much much more. being around these children everyday, who have no real family, who have been abandoned, neglected, or parents who don't have the necessities to take care of the children. family is the most important thing in my life. i will never ever take them for granted. my grandma and grandpa lewis, and my auntie glenna, they are lights in my life, amazing, caring, loving people. i love them.

-this week we lost a baby and got a new baby at one of the orphanages. the little baby boy, six months old, passed away wednesday morning. when i got home from shift at another orphanage one of the girls told us what had happened. i was in complete shock. i thought i'd start crying, because that is usually what i do when i am sad, but really i am happy for his little soul. sounds opposite, i know. BUT- he is in a happier place, a celestial being. life here wasn't headed in the happiest direction. being abandoned as a newborn, he didn't have much to look foward to. r.i.p. in peace little one. this last monday we the police brought a new baby to the same orphanage. he turned a week old this last friday. he was three days old when the police found him in a trash can. i had night shift wednesday night after the news of the death of the baby, but i had the opportunity to take care of new life. i have never done this before, but his little body, and spirit, put me on the edge of tears. it was a feeling i will never forget.

-i love my friends. the words and support they give me comfort me. ali, i know you have had a rough last few weeks, but i love you girl, and i'm grateful for you! hillary, you are such a happy person and it makes me happy, i love you girl. to any other friends i haven't mentioned, you know who you are, you have made me a better person, and i appreciate that.

-living with thirteen other girls has been sort of a challenge for me. i have never lived away from home, or with roommates for that matter. i've learned paitence, forgiveness, and how to just let people be who they are.

party party party

this last thursday we attended the Mana concert here in Quito. they are a pretty popular latino band. it was a bllllast! everyone (including the fam) have asked "is that really safe?", well it was. i didn't feel indangered at all. we went with our directors, who actually had the idea to go. not all the girls went, but seven of us did go.







when we arrived there were SO many people! we waited while Angel (one of our directors) went and found the fastest possible way for us to get into the stadium. we stuck out like a sore thumb... most of us being blonde, and Lindsay being 6'2" and me being 5'9". we finally got in, they had american music playing so we all started dancing. we got some great looks from every SINGLE person around us. it was great. lindsay tried to talk one of the security guys into letting us up closer, he wouldn't do it!



the concert finally started. i LOVED it. it was such a grrrreat time!



these are our directors, the Chicaizas. amazing people!



this last thursday we also got new girls... i will have to admit it has been hard to train them. i'm now feeling what the girls felt when i first got here. one thing i have most definitely learned while i've been here is patience. i do like my roommates, one from the OC, and the other from blackfoot, idaho. they are both cuties.

this next half is going to go fast i feel... but i know it's going to be a good time.

much too long

it's been much too long since my last post, and i apologize about that. i've finally decided to sit down and update.

life over the last few weeks has been very hectic. i've been pulling 60 hour weeks. wow. we've been to the jungle, Mindo, a little town about 2 hours away. while there we went ziplining, hiking to a waterfall, and white water rafting. it was absolutley incredible!

the ziplining was a thirteen zipline course, and there were babes that worked there (i'm having boy withdrawls, ha!). the course ran over the jungle, over the canopy, it was beautiful! we then hiked to a waterfall, through the jungle. after that we white water rafting, it was a interesting, yet thrilling experience to say the least. it was a great day trip.









now moving on... life here is great. i'm used to being here, i've come to realize how much i really do love these children. i don't even know how to explain it. we took the babies on a field trip to go swimming, on the way home, the little girl i took fell asleep on my lap, i can't explain the feeling i had. these children love everyone, a love that i've never felt. i guess i felt the love of a mother... they are amazing!

i've come to love the girls i live with more and more. yes i have had many frustrations with the way they may treat the others in the house, but i've tried to do my part in being a good roommate and friend. i've definitely learned some patience. our "old girls" leave tomorrow morning early, and "new girls" come tonight. i'm nervous for new girls, but i will know how they feel, i've been in their position. it's my goal to welcome them, make them feel good here, unlike i was treated. i will miss the girls i've been here with. i've made new friends.

well i'm half way. been here five weeks today. craziness. life is good.

sicky poo

i've been sick for about the last week. i've been trying to just tough it out and keep working and all that jazz but it ain't helpin. i finally decided yesterday morning when i woke up that i was going to stay home rest, go to the doctor and try and get better. i went to the doctor, he told me i just had a cold (which i already knew), gave me a prescription and i was on my way. i came home took the medicine, and have been sitting around. i get to work this afternoon, hopefully it won't be too bad.

this last thursday we went to a city called Guayaquil. it is about 300 miles away, along the coast, and a 30 minute flight. we visited the temple there, it was beautiful. we also visited an iguana park, it was an actual natural habitat for these iguanas! we when out to the pier and walked along. it was so extremely hot! we then went to statue of Jesus, there were about 100 stairs up to it, it was pretty cool. we flew home that night.


























also, a little bit about the house that i'm living in... it's in the nice part of town, and we have a guard, plus a HUGE stone wall surrounding the house plus an electric fence at the top. it's intense!

day dos

well here i am on my second day. it feels as though i've been here for weeks. seriously.

today was my first day in the orphanage, working with the children. it was a different yet amazing experience. the children are just happy to have us there, i had a couple kids that didn't even want to leave my side. so so precious! by law we aren't able to give names, or anything. we could go to jail for it!

also when i got off my shift today we went to the "MegaMaxi", which is like thier wal-mart here. we also went to the mall and ate at a great restaurant. one thing that they constantly warned us of, was the men here. they are seriously creeps, there are some that are nice and not as creepy, but we just don't make eye-contact, smile at them, no kind of jesture to show them we are interested in ANY way.

one thing that i am kind of struggling with is not knowing the language. luckily there are enough girls that speak it well enough that we can get by no problem. they have classes that we can start taking hopefully next week! i really would like to learn more of it. i think that over time it will get better, more understanding than acutally speaking.

that is all for now, i may go to bed soon even though it's only 940. but i'm just exhausted, not sure why, but just exhausted. chao for now!

i'm here! and alive!

so i'm here, in ecuador.
yesterday was a long day of sitting in airports and sitting on planes.
FINALLY we arrived, i was exhausted.

when i arrived at the airport yesterday morning i was able to meet 3 of the 5 girls i would be in quito with. they are so cute, nice, and fun, i'm really really excited to get to spend this time with them! we flew to houston and had a five hour lay over and the two other girls that would be with us met us. the majority of the girls here are from utah, idaho, canada, and las vegas.

we finally arrived in quito about 9 pm (time is only one hour ahead here). we got off the plane and waited in customs for about 30 minutes, finally got my passport stamped, and we walked through the doors into the country, ha, and a bunch of ecuadorians were standing there staring at us, even one man was videoing us. yeah, whatevs. angel, our program director, met us at the airport with our driver, who i don't remember his name. we walked out to the van and a airport worker and our driver crammed all of our luggage into this van, i must say i could never have fit all those suitcases in that small thing. we got in the van, completely knee to knee, sitting toward each other, all trying to speak spanish, i must say we probably sounded really dumb. but i laughed. we drove past many familar businesses, such as dominos, hyundai, kfc, and others.

we finally arrived "home" about 20 minutes later. there were quite a few girls in the house because some are leaving today for the final part of thier trip in the amazon, the girls that have been here for about five weeks, and us. i was shown where my room was, and immediately started to unpack. my roommates were there chatting among themselves, not really paying attention to me, except when they asked if i really was going to be taking all the clothes home at the end of my trip, i was really bothered by this, they were being somewhat inconsiderate. but whatevs, i think i may have been a tad bit sensitive because i hadn't gotten much sleep.

i tried to let it go, called my mom, vented to her, went to bed. woke up this morning, and it's cold. blah. the girls that are already here are making us breakfast! then we have orientation, i'm not sure what else today will consist of, hopefully able to see some of the city! i definitely miss home, A LOT, but i know once i start to work with the children i can emerse myself and not be as homesick.

one week and counting...

One week! ahhh! i'm not counting the day that i actually leave. so a week, ah. i just can't wait. these last couple days at work are dragging on so so slowy, i'm going a tad bit crazy.

i'm not any closer to being ready to go, but i'm ready to get out of utah! tonight will be one of my last nights of dancing for a long time, which will be weird since i dance about one to two times a week.

anyway, just an update!

going to ecaudor

so i'm going to ecuador, this blog will be a source to keep friends and the fam updated! i leave march 13th and get back may 27th! woo woo! i have thirteen days till i leave... and i can't even wait! i've been working about 45-50 hours a week (makin bank) and i'm so over the long weeks.

it's going to be even more work while i'm there, but it'll be great. you should hear some of the great rules they have established...

-no dating
-no being out past 9:30
-no taking pictures of the children
-do not leave your wallet out at the house (we have people who cook and clean)

can't think of anymore at the moment, but you'll hear about them all, throughout this adventure.

so i said i'm so ready to go... not really, well maybe mentally, but i have not packed anything, nor have i gone shopping. ma and pa bought some luggage for me, cause i don't own any, and they love me. so that's the just of what has been purchased. we can only check two bags, and can only weigh 50 pounds each, dunno if that's enough!

yesterday osso (the organization i'm going with) sent me an email for my flight information, my plane leaves at 6:45 am, we have a lay over in houston, and then to quito by 9 pm. wowzers, that'll be a long day of cramped legs on the plane, but i'll get a lot of reading done! that's about all for now, more updates to come.