My little reader

I love that she loves books!

Beads!

Checking out the camera

Looking for the beads under the bear

She loves her beads!

She kept holding them up like this and laughing

I wore pearls to church Sunday, and Liv just loved them! So I took out some plastic beads I have and let her play with them. She loved it! This one's all girl :)

Balancing tricks +

She's got this move down!

I just love this face :)

Balancing tricks

Tyler put a toy ring on Liv's head, and it was so cute, because she would just put her arms up in the air like she was balancing, then she'd knock it off. I finally got a couple of pictures with it on, some with it falling off, and others with it on the floor after being knocked off. Then there's the ever famous scrunchy face while balancing!

Liv crawled!

Well, it's official, we have a little crawler on our hands! Liv got the coordination down and loves crawling around! Pretty soon we'll see just how un-baby-proofed our house is!

Liv gets playdates while mommy and daddy get to go to class

Our amazingly wonderful neighbor watches Liv while Tyler and I are in class. After this year, we'll set up our schedules so one of us can be with Liv while the other is in class, but there were two classes we both needed to take this semester. So Tyler and I dropped Liv off with Hannah and her two cute girls for a couple hours this afternoon. We were hoping Liv would be good for them, and we were so happy to hear that they'd had a great time together.

When we got to Hannah's to pick Liv up, she said that Lauren had so much fun with Liv. Lauren is two, and is such a sweet and hilarious girl. She kept saying to Hannah, "That baby named Liv wants to play with the trains," or "That baby named Liv wants to read this book," etc. and then would go get out whatever "Liv" wanted to play with. I thought that was so adorable! And cutest of all was when Hannah told us that when Lauren got up from her nap, she saw that Liv was there and was really concerned. She said to Hannah, "That little baby doesn't have a mommy and daddy!!" Hannah explained she had just come over to play, and that Liv indeed does have parents, and Lauren was happy again.

Lauren says the cutest things. She was jumping and spinning and told her mom she was teaching us how to do it. Another time, she told her mom she wanted to do a "salt and pepper." Well Hannah didn't know what she meant, then started thinking about the things they had been doing that week. She finally realized she meant a sommersault! So funny! My favorite, though, was when she was mixed up with "me" and "you." She came up to her mom and said, "Help you!" And when Hannah said she didn't need any help, Lauren got really sad and kept saying, "Help you, help you." Hannah realized she meant "help me." She thought Hannah was "me" and that Lauren was "you." It totally makes sense--Hannah would have referred to herself as "me" and Lauren as "you." It made it all the cuter when Lauren went up to Hannah and held out something to her and said, "For me." Imagine this in a cute little girl voice :) It really is adorable!

So happy to see mommy!

I started working mornings on campus in the School for Public and Environmental Affairs. While I'm away, Liv stays home with Daddy. They have been having lots of fun together, and she's been taking great naps for him. Today Tyler took me to school because he had some errands to run, and then came and picked me up because he needed to go to the bookstore before our class. I met him in the parking lot, and as I was walking up to the car, Liv saw me and let out a big, happy squeal and gave me a huge smile! I just love her so much! I was so happy she was excited to see me. I love my job, but I miss getting to be with her. I'm glad Tyler gets to be with her in the mornings, and that she sleeps for a lot of the time that I'm gone, so I don't miss out on as much!

Snuggles with Daddy

So for the last few weeks, Liv has been wanting me to hold her and not leave her with anyone else, not even Tyler. He was feeling a little bit sad, or at least left out. But then Saturday I had just finished feeding her, and she turned out of my arms towards Tyler and gave him a big hug! It was so cute!

A bit later, she would come to me, give me a hug, then turn and go to Tyler, give him a hug, then come back to me. She went back and forth about 15 times. It was so funny! She is so sweet to give me and Tyler attention now :)

Ice cream!

Liv caught with her hand in the cookie jar! Or in this case, face in the Oreo shake...What can I say, she loves ice cream!

Crib time

Gotta love that mischievous look!

Another scrunchy face while standing all by herself in her crib!



Liv realized she didn't know how to let go from standing up. She took the topple well.

Happy baby :)

Bedtime

Tummy time!

Checking out the camera up-close.

Looking for more stuff to play with.

I finally got a good one of her scrunchy face!

Liv hanging out in her jammies.

Liv likes to hold her lotion bottle after we put her lotion on. I didn't get a picture of it, but she also really likes to suck on the cap. I guess lotion tastes good?

Stuffed Animals

Livvy was so excited to play with her stuffed animals today! She was sitting in front of me and kept trying to pull the basket with them in it over. She finally got it!

Sharing pears with daddy

Pull ups

Liv also tries to pull herself up to standing. Poor thing got caught on the chair the other day--too close to sit down, too close to stand the rest of the way up!

Push up time!

Liv now goes from crawling to push-up position. It's so funny! I think she's stronger than I am...

One more messy face

Messy face!

So, we basically strip Liv down when it's time to eat, because as you can see, it gets everywhere! But it's pretty cute, so we'll allow it :) She started doing monkey face, which meant her favorite sweet potatoes ended up in her hair, on the back of the chair, and smeared all around her face (she moved just as I went to put the spoon in her mouth). We have a fun time at meal times!

Cuddling up on a Sunday

After church, I was laying on the floor after Liv finished eating. She rolled over and cuddled up to me. So cute! She's also been giving me her binky lately, which makes me love her even more. I had held it in my mouth a couple of times (backwards) when I'd be doing something else before giving it to her, and she would take it, put it in her mouth, and then try and put it back in mine. Now she just randomly will give it to me sometimes, and I think it's so sweet she's willing to share her binky with me.

To crawl or not to crawl...

So Liv really wants to crawl. She spends all day practicing. And she's so close! She is so good at getting her knees under her and supporting herself. She rocks back and forth, lunges...and then dives on her tummy. She can really scoot around sideways and backwards, but what she really wants is to be able to go forward. I'm expecting any day now. She'd probably have it by now if it weren't for all of those days in the car lol

Monkey face!

So Liv has started doing this thing where she covers both her ears with her hands, and it is so adorable! I call it her monkey face, and it makes her laugh. Every time she does it, I say, "Monkey face!" in an excited voice, and she just cracks up. Sometimes, I make the face back. Yes, even at the grocery store. But hey, I even do little dances and songs for her at the grocery store, so that can't come as much of a surprise. But back to the monkey face. She was doing it the other day over and over at the grocery store. We were having a great time! While daddy was shopping for produce, Liv and I were playing the monkey face game. A college-age girl near us said, "That's so cute she does that!" And it really is. I'm trying to get a good picture of it, and of course erased the one that ended up being the best because I thought it was blurry at the time. Here's one that turned out okay, too, though.

Vroom-vroom

So Tyler is taking Liv on an imaginary car ride in hopes that she'll fall asleep. He buckles her, then puts down the cover. As he walks around the house taking fake turns, he makes fun car noises *vroom-vroom*. It's actually really endearing.

Love my friends, love my life

I got together with some of my favorite people tonight. Ammon, Jen, Liz, Mama, and Shane. It was so fun talking about old times and remembering just how much I love these people and that time of my life. We laughed and told stories, and Katie mistook Liv for Mama's baby (mostly cuz of her name ;) ). We even realized that Shane and I had gone out three times, and I remembered a fourth after he left lol There was a scandal as I mistakenly thought Ammon had been de-friended on facebook. Turns out it was only in real life. Phew ;)

As everyone was leaving, I was thinking how great it is to have such good friends and to be able to keep in touch. I was thinking how sad I was that I don't get to see them as often as I used to. Then I walked upstairs and went to crawl into bed and there was Liv, sleeping peacefully. All the love I have for Liv and Tyler just hit me so hard. I thought, how lucky am I to love my old life, and to love the life I have now? How I got so lucky to have such great friends and a great husband and daughter I'll never know. What I do know is that I am so blessed. Looking at Liv's cute little face while she slept filled me with so much peace. I love what I have, I love where I've been, and I'm so excited for a future filled with family, friends, and new experiences yet to come.

Starting out strong...until we give up

So Tyler and I decided we're going to try to eat better (yes I realize this is ridiculous, given that I'm making a chocolate chip cookie pie). We've been talking about doing the Zone diet and were saying we were going to miss carbs, especially cereal. So I said that we didn't necessarily need to be strict, we could just do our own version. In response, Tyler said, "We should start out strong and then slowly give up." So here's to starting out (somewhat--again, the cookie pie) strong, and give up from there!

And we're back...

So for months I've said I'm going to start blogging again. Every time something funny happens, I say, "I'm totally blogging about this." But then I never do. So I'm in the middle of making a delicious chocolate chip cookie pie (from ourbestbites.com) and thought, oh I'm going to blog later. Instead of waiting and never doing it, I'm blogging now. Here is the pie I'm making. It looks so delicious!!

Nephews' and nieces' thoughts on pregnancy

I really should have written a lot of this when I was at home, because I know I won't remember all of the great things the grandkids said about the baby. A couple of my favorites, though:

Annalee--"How does your baby get out?"
Me--"Anna, your kids have a question for you!" I then went on to explain the doctor makes a little cut so the baby can get out (their mom had c-sections with them), and then feeling like this might be traumatizing, I threw in, "And there are other ways..." before quickly changing the subject.

As Anna was driving away with her kids, there was a chorus of, "Bye Kimmie!" "We love you!" "Bye" "See you soon!" and then my favorite..."We love you! And we love your baby, too!"

Leslie and her kids came to visit, too and had some great oneliners. Jared was dying that I was married and pregnant (he's 14) and thinks I should have stayed single forever so I could be the fun aunt and hang out with him instead of talking to Tyler. After he met Tyler he really liked him though, so I think he's torn on that point.

Janie, one of Leslie's girls, went shopping with me for baby clothes. We walked into Carter's and she saw the sleeper pajamas and said, "Oh, I hope they have those in a 6T! Oh, I hope they have my size! I wish I was a baby!!" She would then bring me all these cute clothes to look at, and would say, "I'm gonna die! These are so cute, I'm gonna die!" This soon changed into, "We have to leave--I don't want to die!" Seriously so fun to shop with.

So many fun things were said, I wish I could remember them all. A post for a different day, I guess :)

Is your baby comin' out??

For the sake of just posting again, I thought I'd write about my cute niece Taryn and her thoughts on my being pregnant.

At first Taryn was a bit confused by this whole "baby in my tummy" thing. She's about 2 1/2 I think. Maybe 3. I'll fix this later lol So she gets it now that I have a baby that is growing in my tummy, but not so much this whole 9 month thing. I tried to explain that the baby wouldn't come until about Christmas time. Still, every time I saw her while I was in Utah she would ask (in the cutest Taryn voice), "Did your baby come out yet?" or "Is your baby comin' out?" I think she gets it, but we may still need to work on this one.

Another time Taryn says to me, "I'm gonna tickle your baby, put her in the stroller, and rock-a-bye baby!" She's way excited to have a new cousin.

My mom told me that now Taryn comes up to her and says, "We don't do this with Kimmie's baby" then punches her own arm before saying, "we go like this--so soft!" and starts petting her arm. The other day while I was talking to Taryn on the phone, grandma asked her, "Are we going to be rough with Kimmie's baby?" Shocked face from Taryn: "Oh, no! We be so soft and so nice!" and then starts petting her arm again.

It was really cute a couple of days ago. We were talking and Taryn said, "How's your baby?" I told her she was doing well and that she kicks all the time now and that if Taryn was here she'd be able to feel her kicking and even see my stomach move when the baby does. So later that day my mom asked if she talked to me and Taryn says, "Yes, and the baby was KICKING the whole time!" My mom said that at the same time Taryn was kicking her little feet back and forth. Taryn had also talked to Tyler that day (as they were talking she said, "How is your day?"--she's learning to talk like a grown-up :) ), and my mom asked who else she got to talk to. She got all excited/shy and said, "Tyler." She has a little crush on him I think. When she first met him she went home and was talking about "cute baby Tyler" and always asks where he is when I'm around.

These stories may not be as cute to you, but that's just cuz you can't hear her little voice and see her cute curly blonde hair and funny faces :)

Falls Lake

June 26, 2010--Tyler and I took the day to spend some time at the lake. Katrina had recommended Falls Lake, and seeing that it was only 25 minutes away, we thought we'd check it out. There is a section for swimmers only, so boats and fishermen don't cast in there. We staked out a spot on the beach, put out our blanket and cooler that Tyler had packed and took off for the water.

It was such a fun day, and we loved getting to just hang out in the water. The area was sectioned off by a plastic tube, so we would swim out and sit on it. The water was pretty shallow and the deepest it got was maybe seven feet at the roped off part. Tyler tried to teach me how to swim and breathe at the same time--I never quite got those strokes down... We also attempted some amazing flips over one another. I think we had one or two successful ones at the end.

We headed back for the shore to get some sun, and when it became too hot, headed back to the water. This time I put my sunglasses on so Tyler couldn't push my head under (I don't know when it started, but I hate putting my face in water--Tyler tries to help me get over this some times lol). We went out to the roped off portion and were just talking when a 60-something guy behind us said, "Nice glasses." We struck up a conversation and he turned out to be really nice. We told them we had gotten married earlier that year and he gave us some great marriage advice--he told Tyler that I was always right :) He said it had taken him 40 or so years to realize it, and along the way he thought he'd been right, but he realized those were just the ones his wife was willing to let him win. We laughed. He told Tyler it was not 50/50 but 80/20--and I'd decide which 20 he got. He was really funny.

We got to talking about where he and his wife were from and what had brought us to the South. After telling him we'd moved from Wyoming and Utah, he asked if we were mormons and we said yes. He told us he really respected us. At first he had thought Mormons were weird, but then realized after meeting some members that we are just regular people. He said he realized that he had given into the same thing that happens to him--he's Catholic and doesn't appreciate when people listen to rumors or make assumptions about his faith, and he realized he didn't want to do that about us. We also talked about how sad it is that some people are so quick to judge other religions, especially Islam. It was really nice to talk with him, and I really appreciated his views on accepting all people, regardless of their religion. It was such a random way to meet, but we really enjoyed talking to him. He and his wife welcomed us to Durham and then headed back to the beach.

Tyler and I spent our last little bit of time doing gymnastics on the rope/plastic barrier. We tried flips around it and standing up on it from a frog position and balancing as it sunk in the water. I'm sure every one else thought we were crazy, but we had a great time.

After about 2-3 hours, we'd had our fill of the water and beach. We're not really huge into the water (except boating), so we'd spent the perfect amount of time there. We got back to town, grabbed some ice cream, and still had the rest of the day to spend together. We love weekends!!

Dinner at the Smiths

June 25, 2010--Had a great time with friends at Abe and Kristie's. It is Abe's birthday this week, so they invited a few of the couples over for a get-together. We stayed til a little past 11 pm and had such a great time getting to know everyone better. We've all decided a karaoke night is in order, so hopefully we'll be organizing that soon! Tyler and I have committed to do an Air Supply number, so we're pretty excited for that ;)

Katrina and I were able to catch up more, and we've decided we need to get together and do some projects. We have really loved getting to know her and Ethan better--they are really amazing people and so much fun to get together with. Tyler and I had decided we were going to explore the next day, and Katrina recommended falls lake, which ended up being great.

We met a new couple, Tati and Justin, who are so much fun! It was really great to get to know them. I'm pretty sure they got dubbed "Honorary Mormons" for the evening and were probably a little surprised at the short amount of time (relatively) that the couples had dated before getting married. Tyler and I usually win this contest lol

Tyler held Breianna's three week old and it was so cute!! Gets me way excited to see him become a dad! I'm afraid he's going to be better than I am at this baby stuff :) He is really sweet and it's so fun to see how a little baby looks in his arms--so tiny next to him!!

Abe and Kristie were great hosts and we look forward to more get togethers in the future!

Lunch and scriptures

June 23, 2010--I met Tyler on campus for lunch because I knew I would be gone in the evening, and he didn't know if he was going to a bowling night or not with the law students. It was fun to get together and actually see him in the middle of the day! We went to the cafe and I couldn't decide what I wanted (again, this pregnancy thing really throws my ability to know what I can/want to eat). After letting a bunch of people go ahead of us, I finally apologized to the guy behind the counter with, "I'm sorry--I'm pregnant and I'm confused." He laughed and said, "Becaues it all looks so good!" Tyler ended up getting pasta and fries and I decided it would just be best to share. I always cause such a scene lol Lunch went much too quickly and it was all too soon before Tyler had to go back to class. Even though it seemed too short, it was great to see him.

Tyler came home pretty early, so we had time to hang out before I went to scripture study. I got there about 20 minutes early cuz I thought it started at 7 and not 7:30. It worked out though, because I was able to help set up chairs and get to know Valerie better. We had a great scripture study with some women from the ward. It was great to get to know them better and to talk about the scriptures and our testimonies. Each month we get together on the last Wednesday and study a couple of chapters together. This week was out of the book of Mosiah. We talked a lot about service and how we can better keep the commandments. There were delicious monster cookies after, and I even took one home to Tyler :)

One of the girls there is getting induced today, and another is due in October. So fun how many babies are being born! One of the girls and I decided we're going to get together and sew burp cloths to give as gifts, which was funny because I had already been planning on doing this when she came up and was like, this is way random, but would you want to get together and sew blankets and burp cloths?? Crazy how things work out!!

Tyler didn't end up going bowling, so we got to spend some time together before my early bedtime came around.

Law wives Tuesday

June 22, 2010--After the pool, Breiana picked me up to head over to Lindsay's where some of the law school wives were getting together. We were going to watch a movie, but ended up talking instead. It was fun to get everyone together and I think we're going to make a weekly get together out of it. Breianna had her one year old Seth and her newborn Kaitlyn with her, and Lindsay has a 15 month old son named Charlie. Charlie and I spent most of our time putting together puzzles. We became pretty fast friends looking for puzzle pieces and even put together a Mr. Potato Head. He surprised me by shoving a piece of pineapple (one of his snacks) into my mouth. Now that's friendship ;)

Fun at the pool

June 22, 2010--Crystal, Spencer, and I met up at our pool for some summer fun on Tuesday. It was so nice to escape the heat and humidity in the cool water. Spencer was so cute with his toys--he would toss them out and Crystal would help him swim to them. He has decided he doesn't like getting water around his eyes, so he won't put his head under and doesn't like it when his mom and dad do either. I guess he brings a towel over to wipe off their eyes, then he thinks they're okay. I think it's so cute how he "takes care" of them :)

My favorite was when Crystal had Spencer recite the articles of faith. He started out by saying, I'll go slow. Then he excitedly said, "Number one!" and proceeded to tell me the first article of faith. I was so impressed!! He is two turning three soon. Little did I know this was not all. He finished the first and said (again in a really excited voice), "Number two! We believe..." Crystal helped him through the third one and he finished it all by himself. He is so adorable!!! I can't believe how smart he is!!

He would also go over and get my water bottle and say "Kimberly's" and then come hand it to me. We shared some graham crackers and had more pool time. On the way out he chased some geese from our pond up a hill. It was such a fun day and I look forward to having them over to swim again!

Father's Day

June 20, 2010-- Father's Day was so much fun! I woke up to all the great things Tyler had done, and then I gave him his presents, a book called I love my daddy, and a what to expect for fathers' book. His big present STILL hasn't come, over a week since Father's Day, so I'm hoping it gets here before I get to Utah so I can see him open it. My sewing machine came, and at first I thought it was his gift...then we realized it was mine. He was a good sport about it, though! I also wrote him a four page letter on many of the reasons I love him.

It was then off to church where the men were given Sprees. We forgot how much we love them!! It was really cute, because my friend Crystal's son came running up to her after church, reached into her bag and grabbed hers out. Even through nursery he had remembered where they were.

Tyler and I went home and I made calzone dough for our dinner. I had Tyler put on his own toppings and just made a loaf of bread out of mine (this whole pregnancy thing still throws me about what I like to eat). He braided them up into cute little loaves and we threw them in the oven. We had a fun little dinner together and have decided that calzones are a favorite for us!!

Father's Day Eve

June 19, 2010--Obviously, I got a little behind in my blogging, so I'll try to catch up. So the night before Father's Day, Tyler and I spent most of the day cleaning out our second bedroom and getting the last of the unpacking done!! By the end of the night, I was pretty tired, so Tyler offered to let me rest while he went and picked up groceries. I got pretty sick after he left--gave myself a black eye from throwing up and then went to bed. A couple of hours later, he wasn't home yet, so I called him and he was on his way home. Turns out he'd picked up some "father's day" gifts (turns out I benefitted more from father's day than he did)--he stayed up til one putting the finishing touches on our apartment: stands for our dishes, a new dish set, lamps and bedtables for the bedroom, cute shelves to put our nick-knacks on, etc. I am one lucky girl!!

Anniversary Date Night

Tyler and I met one year ago yesterday! We've been having anniversary weekend leading up to father's day :) We went to Robin Hood Thursday and enjoyed that, and decided to go out to dinner Friday. I had just finished reading Life of Pi about a boy from India, so we decided to try out a new Indian place called "Curry and Spice." We got the plain naan bread (I love this bread!) and tika masala chicken with rice. So yummy!

After dinner we decided to go to the Sarah P. Duke gardens and ended up walking around campus before going to the gardens. They are really beautiful! Fireflies were out and there are lots of ponds with cute little bridges and ducks swimming around. We walked around a few of the paths and then headed home.

It was a fun way to spend our evening, since our first real date was one year ago today, and we went walking around the mall and Red Square. Going for walks was and still is one of our favorite dates.

Hollywood spoils diplomacy with Russia

Found a fairly funny article on how Hollywood has not helped our diplomacy with the Russians, entitled "8 movies that have made Russia even madder at us." It lists 8 movies that would not have made the Kremlin any more friendly towards the US. One of my personal favorites is number 8--Goldeneye. The explanation reads:

Yes, we know this wasn't the first time 007 came out on top of some of the KGB's top agents, but this wasn't your ordinary Bond. Pierce Brosnan's resume includes roles in Mrs. Doubtfire and Mama Mia. Doesn't sound like England's deadliest weapon.

I have to post a disclaimer here: I loved Pierce Brosnan in Mama Mia--all the more because he sang in it!

Strange pregnancy dream, perhaps?

Bizarre dreams are not new to me. I tell Tyler about them all the time. But I think pregnancy has some new twists for me. People say that pregnancy affects your dreams, and until last night they had mostly been that either someone was trying to attack/kill me, or that all of my friends and family (Tyler included) were upset with me over something. But last night was one of the first pregnancy dreams that made it almost impossible to sleep.

I woke up yesterday with a really stuffy nose, and I was thinking I must have allergies. It was like that almost all day long with frequent (like every 10 minutes) trips to the bathroom to blow my nose. By evening, my head was kind of hurting and as Tyler felt sick, we both crawled into bed around 8:30 pm.

It was then I realized I couldn't breathe through my nose while laying on my side, and I'm just not a back sleeper. Or a mouth breather. Believe me, Tyler suggested it several times after my continued moaning about not being able to breathe.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. I had taken a unisom (part of my anti-morning sickness routine) just before going to bed. Well, that must have knocked me out because I was fine until about midnight.

I woke up and started ranting about how I was suffocating and couldn't breathe. I was thrashing my arms and legs in frustration over not being asleep and it only being midnight (a whole night of this ahead??). Poor Tyler kept trying to calm me down by saying, "You just need to settle down." Well intentioned, but I get kind of upset when I get woken up and I'm in and out of dreams. I found I could sleep only if I kept my head in a certain position and laid on my back.

So I would kind of fall in and out of asleep, and in my dreams, I dreamed that I had to say "air" to keep the breathing hole opened, which then progressed to having to find the right kind of bread. If only I could remember which bread it was, I would be able to breathe! I went through all the different recipes I could think of, wondering which would be the lightest and fluffiest to allow the most air through so I wouldn't suffocate. This then moved on to thinking, oh if only our oven worked I could make some bread and figure this all out!! (Our oven doesn't bake evenly and I've been wanting to make homemade bread for weeks).

So in between these strange recurring dreams, I would wake up angry about not being able to sleep and thrashing around. I think I mentioned bread once or twice, and Tyler told me I'd been saying some weird stuff in my sleep.

I have yet to find out what dreaming about bread and suffocation means during pregnancy, but it was enough for me to hope that a different theme makes an appearance in the future.

Mormon profiles

Really excited about this new Mormon profile idea on mormon.org. I hadn't heard about it until Tyler sent me an email this morning. The idea behind it is that Mormons come from very different backgrounds, but share a deep commitment to Jesus Christ and the gospel. This new site will let people find out more about what Mormons believe from everyday members from around the world. In mind, this is great public diplomacy for the Church! We are often misunderstood in our beliefs and this is a great way to overcome that for people really wanting to know what Mormons are all about. So, for all of my Mormon friends, I would really encourage you to post a profile. For all of my friends of other faiths, feel free to check it out :) The profile contains things like interests, why you are a Mormon, a place to give your own answer to frequently asked questions about our faith, and offers a chance to explain why we do the things we do. Obviously I'm really excited about this! Hope you are, too :)

Temple weekend

Tyler and I were asked to speak on temples at Sacrament meeting. I spoke on the blessings of the temple and the importance of the temple to LDS people, and Tyler spoke on the blessings of having a current temple recommend. To help us prepare, we went to the temple together Saturday. It was great to go together.

Our talks went well Sunday--it was nice to be able to share my experiences and research more about the temple. It was great to be able to bear my testimony of the peace I have felt there, how I have been able to draw closer to my Savior, and how I have come to understand better my place in our Heavenly Father's plan. I was also sustained and set apart as the Relief Society secretary. I am really excited to be able to serve in the Relief Society. Everyone has been so kind, and I look forward to getting to know the sisters even better.

We had the missionaries over for dinner yesterday (Sunday). We made salmon, baked potatoes, and green beans. This turned out to be great, because one of the Elders was from Washington, and the other from Idaho. Seems like we had our bases covered :) It was really fun to get to know them better and hear about how the work is going in Durham. They shared a thought with us about trials and how we can either grown stronger through trials, or allow them to weaken our faith. We also talked about gaining more knowledge of truth. We appreciated having them in our home.

Afterwards, we met up with Jaren and Mindy from the ward for a game of Ticket to Ride and Boggle. I did much better at the first lol Tyler, of course dominated Boggle, with Mindy not too far behind. Jaryn and I were satisfied coming in much further behind...

This morning I was able to go and help clean the temple. I met some really nice people there, and it was nice to get out and serve.

3rd anniversary

Three month anniversary that is :) Friday, June 11 was three months that we've been married! Tyler got me Life of Pi (a book the Blevins recommended) and even did some of my prenatal yoga with me--he's the best :) I had done yoga earlier in the day, then went walking on the treadmill, only to find I was still pretty stiff. So when Tyler got home I was doing yoga, and he finished up with me.

We then went out for dinner at California Pizza Kitchen by the mall. The spring rolls we ordered as an appetizer were oh so yummy (at least the mediterranean ones), but I'm afraid that was all I could eat. I'm still figuring out what my body likes while being pregnant. The white sauce pizza with ricotta had a really strong cheese (not ricotta, but some other kind as a base layer) that I just couldn't handle. I got about a 1/2 piece down before calling it quits. Despite my picky stomache, it was a really fun evening. We walked around the outdoor mall, going in some shops and picking out furniture and housewares we would some day possibly own. This mysterious "some day" has been coming up lately for some reason haha

Walking around and sitting by the fountain and on a bench was really fun. It reminded us of being in Moscow. A frequent date for us was going for walks. We would go to parks, to Red Square, or really any where in town. It was fun to reminisce about it. We also stopped by Barnes and Nobles to look at more books. I'm so spoiled :)

S/he's a mover and a shaker!

We saw our baby tonight!!! I know I'm biased, but he is so cute! Really, it looks like an alien, but he (I switch off calling the baby he and she depending on what I feel like s/he is that day) was wriggling around and moving its little arms and legs and looked so cute! So crazy! We found out we're actually 12 weeks, not 13, so that should be a relief to those of you who had done the math lol Our three month anniversary is tomorrow! Can't believe how fast the time goes, and yet in some ways, it seems like we've been married forever :) I'll post the pictures once we get them scanned in...

Missing Lake Powell again!

I just wanted to make note that my family is yet again at Lake Powell without me. I somehow always manage to be gone at the wrong time. First Russia, now Durham. Definitely motivated to find a good deal on airfare for the August trip...

Pregnancy updates

So I started searching for a doctor out here and found out that no one really wants to take a woman who is 13 weeks pregnant. I was quite surprised by this, and then started wondering if there is some rule that says once you're 3 months pregnant you should just consider learning how to deliver a baby yourself. I suppose a tub, bed, or backseat of the car could be just as comfortable as a hospital...Luckily, before it came to that, I was able to find a clinic that will admit me. I officially have an appointment for June 30!

One of our friends ran into the same, yet more urgent problem. She and her husband moved out here two weeks before she was due, so no one would take her. Finally they found someone (again, what do these people expect you to do? Deliver yourself?) and had a healthy baby girl on Saturday. So excited for them!

In the meantime, I found a pregnancy services clinic that is much like Planned Parenthood minus the abortions and it's Christian. How alike are can those two be?? I have no idea. All I know is that they were willing to give me a free positive pregnancy diagnosis that we needed for insurance reasons. They also provide for first trimester ultrasounds (I'm just barely into the second trimester and scheduled it a couple of weeks ago) so you can hear the baby's heartbeat. We're going in tonight at 6:15! I'm getting pretty excited! It almost makes all the nausea and pain seem worth it...

Southern socializing

Well, we're pretty much settled in and loving North Carolina! So far we've been able to unpack, go to the Outerbanks to the beach, hit up a farmer's market with some law school friends, attend a Duke law school reception, a Durham Bulls baseball game with the law school, grill out with the neighbors, invite some friends from law school over for pizza, Origins, and Wise and Otherwise (both excellent games if you like words or phrases), and meet up with a girl I met in the MTC 5-ish years ago to play Pit with her husband and another couple. Lots of socializing!! We've even had house guests :) Our friends have been trying to close on their townhouse all week (thanks to Wells Fargo not getting things in order on time)--they are way excited at the prospect of moving in today!

Grilling out (we found out that BBQ is much more than we make it out to be in the west) with the neighbors was really fun! We had the four apartments nearest us all together. We made Dean's beans (my dad's recipe) and corn on the cob. The neighbors provided drinks, grilled meat, and some cherry cobbler and ice cream. It was so nice to just sit out on the lawn and get to know everyone better. The weather couldn't have been more perfect!! I really think we're gonna like it here :)

A Capitol Proposal

"Utah's Capitol building, located on a hill overlooking downtown Salt Lake City, is an elegant architectural masterpiece. The building is set on over 40 acres, with beautifully maintained and sculpted lawns, trees, flowerbeds, and shrubs. From the south steps, Kiwanzar trees can be viewed circling the drive. From the front steps you see a spectacular view of the Wasatch and Oquirrh Mountains, and Salt Lake City below."

Sounds beautiful, doesn't it? So it makes sense that while waiting for Kelsy and friends to call we'd drive around Salt Lake and end up there. Despite the cold of a chilly January evening, we decided to walk up to the building. After ascending the stairs, we looked out at the breathtaking view. Tyler had his arms around me and told me to make a wish. I turned to him and said, "Oh, you can do that on pretty views?" It's amazing how much he puts up with me. "Sure, I guess," he replied. I thought and thought for a second, part of me thinking, "I wish he'd propose and we'd get married," but then I thought a) I don't want him to ask me what my wish is, that'd be embarassing, and b) we finally mentioned marriage today, so it's gonna happen anyway. Should I waste a wish on something that's going to happen? Yes, I'm that crazy.

So I finally asked if I had to tell him what it was, and he said no, so I made my crazy wish. All of a sudden I realized his arms were no longer around me, and I felt like he wasn't standing behind me anymore. My mind raced through the different possibilities--was it possible he was down on one knee?? I slowly turned around to find him down on one knee with a ring box open. It caught the light so radiantly I could hardly make out the shape of the ring. I was dumbfounded.

The first thing I could think to say was, "Are you serious?" I'm such a romantic. He didn't quite know what to say to that, so he looked down at the ring, looked back up at me, asked me to marry him, and told me that he loved me. I figured that even if this was a joke, I'd better answer and ask questions later, just in case it was for real.

So I looked at him and said, "Yes!...but are you serious?" I think he was a little taken aback that I still wasn't catching on, but he put the ring on my finger and kissed me. He told me that he had wanted to ask my dad's permission, but dad had been gone all day, so he hoped he wouldn't be too upset about it.

We stayed up by the Capitol for a few more minutes talking and letting it all sink in. As we headed back down the stairs, I said, "If this is some kind of elaborate practical joke, it isn't funny." He gave me a what's wrong with you look (not really, but he should have), and laughed and said that of course it was real and that that would be a horrible joke.

Despite my shock, it was the perfect proposal--a huge surprise, just like I'd always wanted. And he picked out the ring on his own (also something I've wanted since I was a little girl) and did an amazing job. It is absolutely gorgeous!!

We never did end up meeting with our friends, but it was a great excuse to go to Salt Lake.

When Tyler came...

...on Thursday, I was getting my hair done by Amy. Tyler met us at the salon where Tracey decided to grill him on his intentions with me. Were we getting married? Before or after law school? He obviously intended to marry me, right, or he wouldn't be dating me, she said. We had talked about marriage hadn't we? (The answer to this one was no...) I was feeling a little awkward because Tyler looked quite uncomfortable. I secretly was thinking that there might be some positive outcomes from this--after all, maybe this would get him thinking about marriage. Little did I know what was to come...

The next day we went to go see the Harrisons. Before we went over, Tyler asked me what he thought they'd say. I jokingly repeated Traceys questions of "So, before or after law school?" To which he replied, "Well, what do you think: before or after?" I wasn't crazy, I wasn't about to put myself out there, so I shrugged and blushed and said, "hmm, what do you think?" "Before, I think before." Emboldened and thinking he must be thinking marriage too, I replied, "Yah, me too...so how much before do you think?" I was then shot down with, "Aren't you putting the cart before the horse?" A little stunned, I let it drop and we started talking about horses before carts or carts before horses.

We had a great meeting with the Harrisons where we didn't reveal too much, but told them we were dating again. Then we went back home to decide what to do with our Friday night. I got a call from my friend Kelsy, saying some people were getting together and we should come up and that they'd call with details. Instead of waiting for them to call, Tyler suggested we head up to Salt Lake City.

And the blog is back on...

Well, after a ridiculously long absence, I have a lot of news: my friend Nastya from Moscow came to live with me for three weeks, Tyler and I started dating again, the three of us took a trip to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, the Grand Canyon, St. George, with a quick stop in Cedar City to see Burke and let Nastya experience her first horse ride. Then Nastya spent Christmas with my family before the two of us followed Tyler's family up to Wyoming for snow-shoeing and New Year's (complete with Irony of Fate, a Russian movie they always watch on New Year's Eve). We left Tyler in Wyoming (Sunday, January 2) and headed back to Utah so Nastya could see some other friends of ours from Moscow before she flew back home on Monday. It was so fun to have her!

Tyler and I had decided we'd try and see each other as often as we could, and that we'd skype every night. He was supposed to come about two weeks after we left, but I get a text the Tuesday after we left asking if he could come this weekend instead. I said that would be great, and he came to Orem Thursday....

Beautiful Custom Woodwork

Bryan just created a new blog of some of his work. So gorgeous! Now all I need is a house and family so I can hire him to do my kitchen--we'll see what Christmas brings ;)

Muslims and Mormons

Great article on Muslims and Mormons from the LA Times, April 2008.

Putin hangin' with the rappers

Totally amazing--check Putin out. I'm only sad he didn't bust a move! Favorite quotes: "Russian rap carries a unique Russian charm," "Graffiti becomes a real elegant art," and "Break dance is something special." I'll say this much for him--Putin knows where to place himself for good ratings. My new dream is to see him record a rap track with this guy.

Gold, Jerry, Gold-- RussiaToday.com

Hilarious posting I found when the article I searched didn't come up. RussiaToday.com is now my new favorite Russian news source. This is the happiest I've ever been to have been denied access to research.

Right, there appears to be a problem here.

For some reason, the page you have requested cannot be found.

That's probably because it doesn't exist. There could be a heap of other reasons, of course. It could've decided to jump ship and emigrated to Goa; it could've joined an underground revolutionary organization; or it could've fallen in love with another webpage, eloped and had a heap of pink-cheek, soft-fonted baby webpages.

While you are pondering over these various possibilities, why not try reloading your browser? You never know, you might get lucky this time.

Of course, you can save your luck for later, because apart from the page that you are looking for and this page that you are looking at, RT is packed with other interesting things for you to click through.

Bach, Mass in B Minor

I am currently sitting in Bovard auditorium, waiting for the Bach evening to start. I am always so impressed with the quality of performances here at USC. I really need to take advanatage of these events more often--they are free to students and so enriching. More later...

Russian picnic in Associate's Park

I saw a sign for a Russian picnic on my way to Religion and Conflict Wednesday night, so I showed up a little after 2:00 pm to check it out. I saw Tatyana, whose classes I sat in on last semester. It was so fun to catch up with her! She's invited me to her Russian classes next week to come and talk with the students. I am so excited to get to attend her classes again!

I ended up meeting lots of great people at the picnic and getting to speak a lot of Russian. People from Kazakhstan, Moscow, St Petersburg, and Ukraine made up the native speakers. Maya, from Vienna, Austria also had impeccable Russian. So much fun!

The food was great--blini (crepes), borscht, and plov (rice with chicken). I even called Eli on the way to tell him I was going to have borscht, pelmeni, vareniki, to which he added yabloko! (all of this was of course said in our sing-songy Russian voices we use when listing off foods like two old babushkas who have been friends for ages and sit by the road selling sunflower seeds together).

I ended up staying over four hours (when I had originally planned on leaving after one!). Many of us exchanged information, and we are looking forward to many more get togethers. So sad it took this long to find my Russian community! But happy now that it's here. I was even invited to one of the American Russian speaker's tailgates tomorrow for homecoming. He is in the Master of Public Policy program. It was great as we all talked after--two Americans, a guy from Kazakhstan, two Russians, and one Ukrainian girl. It was especially interesting as we talked about cultural differences and politics in Ukraine. Such a fun night!

Muslim fast-a-thon

The Muslim Student Union hosted a fast-a-thon yesterday. The theme was go hungry so someone else won't have to. We had people sign up to fast, and then the MSU went to local businesses and got them to sponsor each person who had signed up to fast, and then donated the money to feed the poor in the community. It was a really amazing opportunity to focus on fasting specifically to help someone else be provided for.

We met at 5 pm, after sundown, to break our fast at the mosque on Exposition and Vermont. We broke our fast with a delicious date, and then went up to observe the muslim prayer. We then went back downstairs for a persian dinner and words from the organizers. I sat with Jim Burklo, dean of religious life and head of the InterFaith Council. I explained to him that we have a fasting tradition as mormons--usually the first Sunday of the month, and that we pay a fast offering (at least the cost of the two meals we don't eat, and we are encouraged to be generous and pay beyond that) that goes to the poor and needy.

After Aaman, the president of the MSU spoke, Jim shared a few words. He did a great job. After his words, I was asked to speak, along with two other non-Muslim students who had fasted.

I shared with those present that as a Latter-day Saint/Mormon, I come from a fasting culture, but that I felt that I had learned two meaningful lessons about Islam from fasting. I shared my experience from one month ago at the mosque in Hawthorne, where the Imam told me that fasting was to learn to control ourselves with things that are permitted, so that we would be able to have more control with things that aren't permitted. I then said that the second lesson I learned that day as I fasted was compassion. I shared that I had reflected on the theme of going hungry so another person wouldn't have to. I remembered being so hungry as I walked home and seeing someone walk by with a tray of sandwiches. I wanted so much to eat one of them, I said, but couldn't because one--I was fasting, and two--it wasn't mine. It made me think about how many people in my own community go without food enough for themselves and their families each day. And it is not because food is not available--it is because they cannot afford it. This simple moment taught me that I must be more compassionate and reach out to serve more in my own community. I thanked them for the opportunity that I had been given to fast with them, and expressed my hope that we would all be more compassionate and reach out to help others in need.

As I walked back to my seat, Jim leaned over and gave me a great compliment. He said, "That was amazing. I would definitely hire you for public affairs." I really respect him and appreciated his words so much! He has been very encouraging and helpful in the things I want to pursue, and has even offered to introduce me to some people at Clairemont should I decide to pursue a PhD in Religious Studies.

I excused myself shortly after I spoke to go to the public diplomacy dinner with Marc Nathanson, who is the new ambassador to the Czech Republic. As I walked down the steps outside, I heard someone approach from behind and say, "Beautiful speech, Kimberly. Thank you for your words." It turned out to be one of the Muslim students from USC. We talked for a few moments and I invited him to interfaith council Tuesday. I have really enjoyed being a part of faith-based diplomacy.

A week in the life...October 22-27

Flipping through my notes to find information on the Russia-Georgia Conflict, and instead found a page called "blog." Seeing as this never made the actual blog, and as I had even mentioned needing to write about it, here's the list:

October 22-27

Thursday, October 22: Turn in my 15 page paper to Seib on the Orange Revolution in Ukraine. Naomi and I discussing dating during break--Seib asks if that is what I wrote my paper on. Considering pitching that as my final paper idea ;) Run into Hartley at the gym

Friday, October 23: Fly into Salt Lake City! Interview for a media internship with the welfare department. Really excited about it--sounds perfect! Loved the people I interviewed with. Homecoming spectacular with Tyler--so much fun! Loved the tongue-in-cheek way they mentioned the honor code. All of the performances were amazing, and there was even a mention of USC in there! Bonfire after at one of the roommates' parents' place in Alpine. Oh, how I've missed bonfires!!

Saturday, October 24: Happy Birthday, Wendy! Went to brunch at Kneader's, had a surprise birthday party for Wendy--totally amazing--we did a Casino theme, complete with virgin pina coladas, margaritas, and martinis. Went to the Mt. Timpanogos temple with mom to do initiatories before catching the football game (which Tyler was nice enough to give me his ticket to), then off to yet another party for Wendy at her apartment. Eli ended up coming by, and we talked about plans for next summer, how nothing will quite beat Moscow, and how we're not really sure where life is going to take us.

Sunday, October 25: Went to Cecilie's singles ward. Totally crazy! And kind of making me nervous to return to a single's ward in Utah! But I did run into a few people I know, so that was fun. Caught up with Kim (finally) and Kelsey.

Monday, October 26: Got up at 5am to finish the last 4 pages of my take home exam for religion and conflict. Finish just in time to catch my flight back to Los Angeles (that was leaving at 8:35 am), and Will picked me up just in time to make my 10:00 am institute class on temples. I walked through the door just as they were starting, bags and all (not to mention, in my pajamas). Took Molly to Trader Joe's for her first time--thinking we need to make a tradition of it. I taught the lesson at FHE on Elder Gibbon's talk from the October Ensign. So fun! I loved hearing about how Sister Gibbons responded to their call to serve in Moscow. It really made me miss working with him this summer.

Tuesday, October 27: Did research for Teresa, then a great APDS social (where I met Mark and talked him into coming country dancing with us Friday), and ran on down to Pasadena to meet Krishelle for dinner and catching up. She had me tell the banya story to her friend who was also up for a business trip.

Fun, fun

Fall of the Berlin Wall

November 9, 2009 marked twenty years since the fall of the Berlin wall. I was talking with my mom about it yesterday, reminiscing about our trip to Berlin this summer. As I watched news clips and read articles about the commemoration, I pictured standing at the Brandenburg Tur and walking along where the wall once stood, and going to Checkpoint Charlie, where they had set up a wall with panels describing different events and themes from the wall going up to the wall coming down. One of the most heartbreaking displays I remember seeing was one where two women were holding their children up from different sides of the wall so that these cousins could meet each other.

I would have loved to have been there for the festivities Monday. So many historical figures were brought together to remember they symbolism of the wall. AP quoted Chancellor Angela Merkel as saying, "Both [the fall of the Berlin wall and Kristallnacht--night of broken glass, which was also November 9] show that freedom is not self evident. Freedom must be fought for. Freedom must be defended time and again. Freedom is the most valuable commodity in our political and social system." She called the fall "epic" and lauded Mikhail Gorbachev. "We always knew that something had to happen there so that more could change here," she said.
"You made this possible — you courageously let things happen, and that was much more than we could expect."

Sikh temple

The interfaith council was planning a trip to the Sikh temple last Sunday (November 8), and I was trying to decide if I was going to make it. So I texted a friend with my dilemma, and he texted back that it sounded like I really wanted to go and that he was in. So we decided to meet up at the institute building and head up Vermont to the Sikh temple.

We met up with my friend Argad, who is Sikh. When all of the IFC people got there, he explained a little about the faith and how they worship. Everyone was required to cover their heads, so I was given a little bandana to tie around my hair. It reminded me of the babushkas in Russia.

Argad explained the 5 articles of faith that Sikhs should have at all times: Kesh (uncut hair), Kanga (a wooden comb), Kachchhera (undergarment), Kara (a steel bracelet), and a Kirpan (a small dagger). He explained that the undergarment symbolized chastity, and that the bracelet, traditionally worn on the right hand, helped a person remember every time they put forward their hand to do something to ask themselves if the act was worthy of God and to think about what they were about to do with their hand. These five items are for identification and symbolize Sikh values of honesty, equality, fidelity, meditating on God, and never bowing to tyranny (the dagger symoblizes that defense of the oppressed is justified in the eyes of God).

We took off our shoes before entering the worship space. Women were seated on the left, and men on the right. All sat on the floor as texts were chanted/sang in Punjabi. At certain times during the readings, people would stand, and then go back to their knees and touch their foreheads to the floor out of respect.

Argad explained that much of the symbolism has to do with receiving knowledge from God (the word Sikh means disciple) and also about the equality of man. When we had lunch in the kitchen after the recitation, we all sat on the floor to eat. No matter a person's status, profession, or level of education, all sat in this room on the floor. No area was deemed to be better or worse than any other section of the room.

Argad told us a short history of the oppression of Sikhs and of a "holocaust" that took place in 1984. He said that the government really clamped down on the media about it, and that many other countries, including the US, didn't do anything about it because of the growing economic power of India. He sees their democracy as a hypocrisy. Their temple was invaded on a holy day in 1984, when even more worshippers than usual were present, and that Sikhs were killed as they worshipped. This happened because a vocal leader of the Sikh faith was questioning why the Sikhs were not given a land/state of their own.

I am saddened by the amount of hate and intolerance that I am often not even aware of.

Open Mosque Day

I officially found a new recruit to check out other faiths in LA! I had been wantint to go the Open Mosque Day being held in Southern California, and found out the week before that one of my friends was interested in going. We decided we would go to a mosque after church the following week (the open mosque day was held on a Sunday).

So when Sunday, October 18 came around, we decided to jump in our car and find a mosque. Only problem was, there was no address on the flier, and the link online didn't show any locations. So we thought we'd just drop by a mosque and see if we got lucky. We went to the one kitty-corner from USC on Vermont and Jefferson (I think), and a very nice man helped us find an address in Hawthorne.

We set off to meet the close-knit community which reminded me of a ward in a small town (or rather a small branch in Russia--we had helped the members in Ulyanovsk plan and host an open house, or day of open doors as it is called in Russian, to invite people from the local community to come find out more about what Latter-day Saints believe in and what we worship). Everyone was so eager to be of help and answer questions. I was really quite impressed with the way they pulled the event together.

After looking at displays on the 5 pillars of Islam, the Quran, and women in Islam, we went into the main room for a presentation. It started with a beautiful little girl reciting/singing a prayer with two older girls. After a few welcoming words, we watched a DVD on Islam and their beliefs. The floor was then open to questions. A few were quite hostile, but those fielding questions did a great job.

The crowning (read ridiculous) comment came from a man who seemed to be some local government official: What a sad, sad state of affairs that your religion can lead to so much violence. I wish I could remember his direct wording--he said it in such an accusatory way, as if Islam was the only religion that had ever evoked God's name in justifying violence. I remember turning and looking at him and suppressing my desire to say, "Really? Have you ever heard of Christianity? Do you really not know what violent acts have been carried out in the name of God by Christians?" But, I let the moment pass and instead raised my hand, thanked the muslim members for the beautiful, informative presentation, and asked what a day was like in the life of an observant muslim.

They explained the prayers and other obligations. I asked about studying the Quran and if that was supposed to be done daily. No, they assured me, trying to make me not think that is so burdensome as that (not realizing I put in between 30 minutes to 1.5 hours daily for my own scripture study and would definitely not be turned off by this idea).

They also tried to explain how there was a division early in Islam over who should lead--a relative of Muhammad, or if the person should come from the voice of the people. This led to the different practices of Islam. A woman sitting next to me turned to a guy behind her and said, "Well doesn't that sound familiar?" Which made me start--I had just been thinking that! It sounded much like the debate that went on in the LDS Church when Brigham Young became prophet. "Are you LDS?" I wanted to ask, but never quite got the chance. I found out later she was when I was talking to one of the representatives about traditions in Islam. He told me he had just talked to my other LDS friends and would be doing a presentation at our church (I explained we actually hadn't come with them--it was just a coincidence). Kind of funny how we get drawn to one another!

After the presentation, when we were chatting with representatives eager to answer our questions, Curtis and I were approached by people from a cable news station. They asked me to say a few words about the event, so chances are I had a few minutes of fame that I never really saw. After I made my comments, the camera-man asked if I am on camera often. I told him, no, never. He said I answered perfectly, seemed really comfortable, and did a great job. It was really fun--maybe I will strategically place myself around events where I feel journalists will be and see if I can make a profession out of being an official bystander who witnesses events lol

I ended up talking to a man named Azan, and he introduced me to his beautiful daughter Yasmine. He wanted her to tell me about a typical day in her life. She's in the 7th grade. She said, "I wake up. I eat. I go to school, I talk to my friends, I come home and do homework, and then I eat, and go to bed." It was really cute. Just before she had come over, her dad was telling me how it has really been the toughest on his kids. People at school don't understand why she dresses different, and that she is a normal person. They are faced with a lot of questions. Azan was saying that his colleagues all respect him and his family, and see that they are good people who work hard, but they follow this with--but you and your family are the exception. So sad.

Yasmine said that I could call her Jasmine, that is what the other kids call her. When we went to leave I said, "It's Yasmine, right? So nice to meet you." She beamed that I would call her by her real name. I told her I thought it was a beautiful name and that it was very nice talking with her. After dinner we passed her as she was getting in the car with her mom. She waved goodbye with a big smile on her face as they pulled away.

Dinner was great--it was like BBQing at home with my family. We looked around for an open seat and ended up eating at a table with the Imam and one of the members of the board. The four of us had a great conversation, and they were so hospitable. They seemed grateful to have us, and we were grateful for the warm reception. The Imam told us a little more about their religion, the local community, and even dating traditions in Islam. He asked if Curtis and I had any children. Instead of explaining that we weren't married, we just said that no we didn't, but talked about our families. I think they were surprised that I came from a large family, but so did the member of the board, so we had a great time talking about that.

It was really an amazing experience to go and meet sincere people from the wonderful community in Hawthorne. My roommate Fareed may go back with me on a Friday for call to prayer. I would love to see them again.

Detained in Rostov

Apparently I'm not the only one to get detained in the Rostov-on-Don airport. An officer who tried to expose corruption and lawlessness in the police force in Russia said he was detained in Rostov, and when finally let free, found his credit card had been blocked, and he was not able to buy a ticket to get out. I guess things could have gone worse for me...

President Monson, Obama meet

President Monson, U.S. President Meet
“President Monson, U.S. President Meet,” Ensign, Oct. 2009, 79
In July, President Thomas S. Monson met with United States President Barack Obama, presenting him with five large leather-bound volumes of his family history covering hundreds of years.
President Monson was accompanied by Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, who is also a member of the Church.
“President Obama’s heritage is rich with examples of leadership, sacrifice, and service,” President Monson said at the event. “We were very pleased to research his family history and are honored to present it to him today.”
President Obama and Elder Oaks, a former justice of the Utah Supreme Court, also had an opportunity to discuss their shared passion for the law.
President Obama said he enjoyed the meeting. “I’m grateful for the genealogical records that they brought with them and am looking forward to reading through the materials with my daughters,” he said. “It’s something our family will treasure for years to come.”
The Church has also presented family histories to other U.S. presidents, including Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
President Barack Obama (second from right) meets with (from left) Senator Harry Reid; Joshua DuBois, director of the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships; President Thomas S. Monson; and Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the Oval Office.

Temple Square in Forbes Top 25

Read in the Ensign and the Deseret News that Temple Square in Salt Lake City is the 16th most visited site as reported in Forbes with 5 million visitors. It is the only religious site in the top 25.

Catching up...again

K, I'm officially catching up, even if only in name, on my blog! Tons of great things have been going on. I still haven't blogged about my last two trips to Utah, the Open Mosque Day a friend and I attended, visting teaching with Megan, introducing Molly to Trader Joe's, Wendy's amazing 21st shindig, Amy and Wendy coming to LA for Halloween weekend, complete with parties, country dancing, sightseeing, and Paul and I acting like 14 year-olds trying to trick-or-treat in an apartment complex down. Many great stories to come!

Oh, and I can't forget learning Mandarin and thinking my name meant goat, only to find out later it means gold...

Saturday discoveries

Naomi is convinced I was a liberal hippie Jew from upstate New York in another life. We're always surprised at how alike we are. This revelation comes as we are "studying" in a comfy cafe by her place.

Skydiving

Oh so much to catch up on. I have made two different lists about what I need to blog about and still haven't found the time to sit and write them. So for my return post, I figured I'd put in a conversation I just had about skydiving cuz it made me laugh (and because it is already written). Some of the people from public diplomacy are going skydiving next Saturday, so I was trying to convince Matthew he should come. I don't usually post conversations, but I never blogged about skydiving (probably because I didn't have a blog then lol). So here it is:

Matthew: i need convincing11:25 PM convince me
16 minutes
11:41 PM me: lol i navigated away from the page and got caught up in facebook pics and blogs Matthew: lol11:42 PM me: but, i do think you should come!

There is nothing better than having them reach the point where you are ready to jump and the door opens and you think, omg I am an idiot! They want me to throw myself out that door Matthew: lol me: and it's too late to back out, cuz this guy I'm strapped to is pretty intenet on making this jump hahahahaha11:43 PM

Matthew: hahahaha me: then you are like, ok, this is the worst 10 seconds of my life i can't breathe and my face is being sucked behind me

Matthew: wtf have you done this before?

me: then the chute opens and it is the most amazing feeling except that moment where you pull away from your tandem jumper as the chute violently pulls you back11:44 PM but then you get the most amazing view of your life and the adrenaline rush makes it all the more beautiful

Matthew: have you done this before!?!??!11:45 PM

me: and the second you come down, you're htinking, is the landing going to be tough, are we going to slam in the earth? Then you gently float in and skim across the top of the grass and land. Then you're hoping they will let you go up again. You can't get enough You decide you are going to become a jump instructor so that people pay you to do this it's so amazing and the only thing you dislike is the price11:46 PM and the thought of packing your own chutte cuz then if it doesn't open it's your fault you're dead

Matthew: kimberly degroff me: yes? Matthew: have you done this before?11:47 PM

me: heheh answer to your question: yes I have Matthew: really?!?! me: Don't worry, I saw your question before, i was just about to answer it but thought that maybe something good was going to follow the kimberly degroff post :) yep! The summer before I moved to LA My best friend and I decided we had to do it before I left Matthew: wow11:48 PM me: Last big adventure I guess

Matthew: skydiving mormon girl this is epic

me: love it :)

So, that is my skydiving experience in a nut shell :)