Goodbye Pooky

Well the time finally came this morning at 6AM. Parker left to go into the MTC. I can't believe that he litereally ON his mission at this very moment in time. I know he is going to be great, but it is just so sad to not be able to see him for 2 whole years! At the same time, I am almost looking forward to the bonding we will be able to have over written letters for the next 2 years. Is that weird? This is all assuming he will write me! haha. People express themselves differently in letters. I almost feel like they are more open and willing to share what they are really thinking. I guess because they can really think about what they are writing before they send it. Every time Parker has had something on his mind that he really wants to talk to me about, he has always written me a letter or email about it. So I feel like us communicating through the written word will be a good thing, even though I will definitely be missing him. He is such a special young man (cliche, I know). He loves everyone, he puts everyone at ease when they are around him, and he radiates with spirituality. He is ready to serve the Lord for 2 years. Although it is very emotional for everyone to see him go, I know he is doing the right thing, and that brings me peace and comfort. It pains me that I'm going to have to say goodbye to another one in a few years!! But I know that Parker is setting a wonderful example for Ethan, whom I also love. Ethan, if you ever read this, know that I love you and although you are terribly homesick at the moment (he's at scout camp), I am thinking about you constantly and praying for you. I have been blessed with the world's best brothers. Seriously. What did I do to deserve this?

Danggggg

They made me change my blog background. Dang it. I don't like this one as much. Boo.

Meet me in St. Louis

Yes, I am in St. Louis. It has been wonderful to be home. Even though it is so humid that I can hardly breath and my hair is ridiculously out of control when I go outside and the heat index is over 100 degrees, I still love being home. I can't believe the time has come for my brother, Pooky to go on a mission. Has it really been 19 years since he was born? Am I really old enough to have a younger sibling this old? Is he really going to be gone for 2 full years? Blows. my. mind. I suppose we all have to grow up at some point, right? Well it's been a lot of fun being out here, even though it has been emotional with Parker leaving and all. I guess more details will have to come later- just know that I miss you Utah people- and gosh dang it, I miss Utah! Who'da thunk.

Summer nights

This has been my night every single night this summer. And oh how I love it.

Girl talk, cool night air, fenced off back yard, waking up with leaves in my blankets, ah the sweet life.

Fortune Cookie

So this is my testimony of fortunate cookies. I have always loved fortune cookies- and I love even more when they come true!! Check out this fortune that I got a few weeks ago:

And then about a week ago, this note appread in our mailbox:

And THEN a few days later this showed up in my mailbox..... from the same person, I'm assuming.

All of my roommates got one as well. And surprisingly none of them care who this "secret admirer" is. So I've been doing some detective work, trying to figure out who could possibly do this. I have a lot of wonderful people in my life that WOULD do this. But the question is who actually did it.... Slowly but surely my roommates have found out who it is, but everyone seems to think it's funny that I don't know! haha. I suppose it is. Either way, I'm pretty sure I know who it is, but I'd like to keep my suspect options open.

And here are the suspects:

John- he's such a sweetheart and does the nicest things all the time for my roommates and I. So obviously a clear option.
Jonathan- also another option. He's the romantic, thoughtful type, so this is definitely something that he would do. And look- he's crafty with the construction paper.
Levi- this really doesn't seem like something he would do, but still a suspect since he spends a lot of time with my roommates and I. And although he likes to come off as a jerk, he's totally not. In fact, maybe he's trying to surprise us all by being the secret admirer.
Evan- He seems the type to write notes to us. He's a huge fan of the written word... and also very thoughtful and sensitive
Tay Tay- he is my leading suspect. Because he is such a sweetie and the most thoughtful guy ever! Let it be known that he is so kind and SUCH a gentleman. His momma raised him right! :D (Taylor will kill me for saying this on a public blog, since he reads it and all....) But that's ok with me... He looks like a rebel on the outside, right?
And James- also a suspect.... very kind, and loves the Manor house girls... need I say more?
So there you have it.... the search goes on for this "secret admirer." I love you secret admirer! It brightened my day. You're the best.

You Will Be Missed

Dear Randy,

You were only in my life for a short 9 months, but I will miss you. It was so hard for you to leave your mom's house and venture out to live on your own for the first time. It was hard for us to know how to help you sometimes, and I wish I could have been better at knowing how to help you. Remember all of the fun things we did with the guys? We went to the zoo, we went to see countless movies, we went on picnics. I will never forget your undying love for Elvis. I wish I could have seen you perform in your costume, singing Blue Suede Shoes. I hear it was incredible when you did it at work. You had a wonderful family that loved you very much. You used to always talk about how much you missed your dad. And you would always ask me if he was coming back. And I always had to remind you that he was in heaven. Then you would ask me when you would be able to see him again- and I told you that when it was your time to go, you would see him again. And I suppose your time has come. I'm glad that you are finally with your dad. You have been wanting to see him for so long. And I'm sure he's been wanting to see you too. I'm sure you're having a great reunion right now. And one day, hopefully a long time from now, I will see you again as well. It really touched me that you asked for me on the day of your surgery before you even asked for you mom. I'm glad you left this life not being mad at me, because I know you often were :) You don't have to have any more bad days- and I'm so happy for you. You don't have to struggle with the things you had to struggle with on earth. I know you are happy now, and that makes me happy. I will miss you, but I know I will see you again. Thank you for being a part of my life.

Love,

Grace

Drama

On pretty much any given occasion you can often find me saying something along the lines of :

"Drama is the spice of life!"

"Everyone loves drama, some people just don't like to admit it"

"The sooner you learn that everyone loves drama, the better"

or as the headline of my blog says- "Drama is life without all the boring parts"

Who's with me?! Seriously though- I totally understand that gossiping is wrong and that having to know everything about everyone is not always the best quality, but you just need to learn to do drama right! I'm not necessarily saying that I've learned how to do it right, but I know there is definitely a way to do it. Let's make life interesting, shall we?

I just love learning about people. I love getting past the small talk and really diving into what makes someone who they are. I guess it's also my way of just showing people that I care- because I honestly do care about what is going on their life. I care about what has happened in their pasts and I care about what is going to happen to them in the future. I suppose some people would call this being dramatic. And that's fine. I fully on admit that I am THE drama queen. And I will gladly wear the title- I just want to say that it's not a bad title to have.

Yes I want to know everything about you. Yes I will ask questions that you probably aren't used to hearing. But the more I ask questions, the more I realize that people are a lot more open than we give them credit for. You just have the ask the right questions! I have also found that in general, people love to talk about themselves- which is fabulous for me because then I can just soak up all the little details and form a stronger bond of friendship. I think it all depends on your motivation behind getting to know people. Are you genuinely interested in them? Or are you just wanting to know everything about everyone for your own status? That's the difference. I'd like to think I'm the former, but I guess you can make your own opinion on that one.

So maybe it's "dramatic" for me to want to know every little detail. Maybe it's dramatic for me to encourage people to get together. Maybe it's dramatic for me to push people to do things- when really I'm just doing it because I care. And maybe it's dramatic for me to react so passionately about things that happen in people's lives, including my own. But if being dramatic like this is wrong, then I don't want to be right! It truly is the spice of life, and it makes for a more intersting and fun time.

Drama you ask?

Yes.