....here it comes...

I woke up to breakfast in bed. I love sleeping at Laura's. Her dad made us pancakes and they were wonderful. After a much needed shower I got ready for the day and after sort of getting lost with Kathryn Stoddard we found the church. I felt kind of weird as I walked in, but Jacob was greeting people and after a hug I just felt good about being there. P.s. his hugs are the ultimate best! I just love them! We sat down and then sacrament meeting started. The dumb pulpit was blocking him but once he stood up to speak I could see him. He did an incredible job, and I found myself on the border of emotion. I didn't cry however.

After the meeting we went over to his house for snacks and to hang out. There were a bunch of people there, but every now and again I would catch a glimpse of him and it made me smile. :) I got to spend some time with Laura today, while at his house, and I just remembered how much I love her! She's hilarious!! Probably the best. :)

The group I was with left me, and I decided to hang around and just be with Jacob... cause turns out two years is a long time to not see someone!! I talked for like half an hour with his brother Patrick and girlfriend Becca... they were pretty awesome! Jacob and Patrick are so similar! Definitely brothers. They are all amazing with kids. There were three little boys (cousins) and Jacob was incredible with them. I discovered that I suck at playing frisbee... as I tossed it over the fence... twice.. :S .. but the sun was shining and it was just glorious!

That night we had a bonfire. After the fire I knew there was something I had to do.. Anyways... He left, and then I went in to bed. Turns out I was getting a little bit tired. I was leaving the next morning :( and NOT looking forward to it. But I'll be back in a month to be with Laura and we will have so many incredible adventures with each other again! but... no hiking Mt. Timpanogas. Bad idea. ;)

Saying goodbye was probably the hardest. Laura left for work early, and I showered and got ready for the drive home. We had breakfast at IHOP and then went back to Laura's and made banana bread with Kathryn and played the piano. I hate my life sometimes.. being emotionless when you want and even need to be emotional sucks... but as Laura pointed out, being emotional when you wish you could be emotionless sucks just as bad. I hugged Jacob like my life depended on it and then Justin came and picked me up. We drove home.

Quite possibly the BEST WEEKEND OF MY LIFE!!! Now... the next two years need to hurry up! :) Just kidding. But Elder Van den Akker is going to do a marvelous job, and I look forward to seeing him when he's back! I wish the best of luck to him in all he does, and hope he doesn't forget me while he's gone. ;)

Sun, sun, sun...

Well. Now that the weekend is over my life will NEVER be the same.

We rolled into Utah around 6 am and stopped at the Jones' house. At 8 o'clock we went to the Schwendiman's but nobody was awake so we slept in the car for an hour until someone opened the garage. We went inside, and I was too exhausted to sleep. Justin and Nicole crashed, but I just laid there on the love sac wishing that I could sleep. At noon J got up and Nicole left with the Atwood's for her weekend adventures. Laura was done work at 4 and going to get me, so we bummed around the Schwendiman's house until then... we ate at Cafe Rio best restaurant ever! and then Laura came. We did a little shopping and headed back to her house. We didn't have plans for that night, but I hoped that we could do something with Jacob... turns out he's a little brat and he had to write his talk.. But.. we went to a movie and it was great! Laura and I talked until around 2 am and after 44 hours of being awake I crashed.... for 4 hours. I woke up at 6 when someone upstairs was moving around..

Jacob had yard work to do that day, so I bummed around, soaked in the sun, and FINALLY at 4 o'clock Jacob came and got me for the adventures of the day... We went to the Oquirrh Mountain, Jordan River, Draper and Bountiful temples. Best day ever! After driving to the BIGGEST house we had both ever seen, dubbed "The Castle House", we went to Bountiful for supper and to watch the sun set. Probably the most romantic thing I've ever done... the sunset on the temple grounds. Call me a sucker, but it was one of the best nights of my life!

Remember that blanket I talked about earlier.. yeah.. it was for him. I gave it to him and he loved it! After the temple excursion we went back to his house and hung out with his parents. They are the greatest! Anne Van den Akker is probably one of the funniest ladies I know! And the combination of Ted and Anne just make me smile! So... Jacob had this teacher in high school who called him "Van deslacker" well.. the name fits (sometimes) because he never finished his talk! So I went home early so he could finish. Well. early wasn't so early.. because we talked in the driveway for half an hour.. :) well... he finally left... after two phone calls from his parents... oops!! Laura and I talked about that night, but not as much as before... It took us about an hour to pick out an outfit for me to wear to the farewell.. we finally decided and fell asleep. :) I thought this was the best day ever.... but....

Here Comes The Sun!

We made it! After a very long, but slightly entertaining ride Nicole and I made it to Utah. But... what's a road trip with a little adventure??? So... I'm about the DUMBEST driver in the world. Seriously.. I didn't even know how to cross the border alone, because when I'm not the driver I don't have to worry about it... the driver deals with it.... So she coached me through it. We made it fine. One step down, just the grueling mountain pass in Montana, a long and very boring Idaho, and then I'd be in Utah again!

We stopped in Dillon, Montana to pee because honestly I was dying... I asked the lady how to get back onto the freeway so we could continue on... she told me, but it was 1 in the morning and it went in one ear and out the other... So after taking a detour on a nice gravel road (listening to my gps) we made it back to gravel. Well I wasn't even paying attention to signs or speed, and I was driving and all of a sudden... lights start flashing. I got pulled over. I'm not proud of what I said, or what happened after that... but the officer came to my window and asked me how I was . Keeping my composure (very surprising considering the circumstances) I told him I was SO lost. He told me I was speeding, and whatnot. then we took my license and registration back to his car and I sat there for a half an hour... the same words coming out of my mouth... HALF AN HOUR! It was ridiculous. He came back, told me I was going to get a written warning, and I honestly thanked him (is that stupid?) for not giving me a ticket. haha. I'm such a nerd.... then I asked him if he could tell me how to get back to the I-15.. cause I was still lost..

All the while I didn't even cry. We zoomed on down the interstate and reached Rexburg by 2:30. Justin took over then.. which was a relief. Utah construction is crazy! We reached the Schwendiman's at 8 in the morning, and everyone crashed but me. I could not sleep. I was just too tired! Longest night of my life! But, adventures are still to be had! :) I didn't hit a deer, I didn't run out of gas, and I didn't fall asleep at the wheel. Nicole is safe, and I now know that I can do it! :)

1,196.6

Okay... so... ROADTRIP!!! I finally found someone to come to Utah with me! Woot! My twin Nicoley is going to join me in the drive from here to Rexburg...

When I talked her into coming with me I kind of maybe forgot the leaving at 6 pm Thursday night detail.. but she said yes and so I am not letting her back down on me. Only problem is.. she doesn't drive stick, so it's me driving all the way.. but at least she can help keep me awake! We'll make it to Rexburg at approximately 2 am Friday morning. Sometime shortly after we will leave to Utah, and after minimal sleep I will be with Laura again! Then.. while she's at work, I'm going to go temple hopping with Jacob. I'm so excited! We're going to take pictures around the temples in the valley.. it'll be such a swell time! :) I'm just super pumped to see the both of them! I know Jacob will make a most amazing missionary, and a week from today I will be hearing him speak! I can hardly wait!

Now... we haven't quite decided what we're going to do with Nicole.. but somehow we are going to get her to the Atwood residence where she will spend the weekend with her family. She's pretty stoked, as am I! We already decided that we are going to go along with what's already been and buy a whole lot of food and Dr. Pepper (and for her some insulin) ;) and be typical fat kids. Now... that's not out of the ordinary for me.. so of course you can only imagine how excited I am! Plus... I get to see Justin! It's quite exciting.

All that stands between three of the most amazing people in my life is 1,196.6 km. that's how long it is from Raymond to West Valley City... where two friends of mine live. Don't worry, I've got a GPS to get me to Rexburg. Then I've got a driver to get me the rest of the way :) YIPPEE!!!!

Roller Coaster Ride.

Yesterday my family (minus me) went to Rexburg, Idaho to visit my brother Justin. He didn't get to come home for July first, and so he was feeling a little homesick. They packed up and were on the road at about 10 o'clock on Saturday morning. I wasn't too sure what I was going to do to spend my time. I had planned on sleeping in but after seeing them off I just wasn't tired anymore.. so I watched a bit of tv, and then decided I might as well become a Gleek so that I fit in with the rest of my family.. I did it... I started at episode one.. 'just going to test it out' I told myself.... well, 5 episodes later I decided that it would be really appreciated by mom and dad if I mowed the lawn. It's like my chore... the kids do the bathrooms, I do the lawn.. but it's fine with me because I LOVE mowing the lawn. So I got out the key, opened the shed and fired 'er up. I finished my lawn, but was so deathly bored with my lack of friends and family that I decided I would mow the neighbours as well.. there isn't a current family living there, they moved out at the end of June, so the landlords had come once before to take care of the yard, but she is great with child... I mean GREAT... due at the end of the summer... so I decided that I would do some service and mow theirs as well. It wasn't really a big deal.. I love it anyway.

I pushed the mower over there and started.. then this car drove by really slow and I didn't think anything of it really.. I just thought maybe they were the people who were buying the house next and I had my story all worked out.. I was just going to say that I was the neighbour and knew nobody was in at the current moment so I would take care of the lawn. Well the man in the car stopped at the end of the block and just watched me for a minute or so.. it kind of freaked me out. I contemplated just pushing the mower back to my yard and going inside and dead bolting the house... then I looked at the ring I had mowed around the boulevard and knew I couldn't leave it like that... the perfectionist I am... and so I finished the boulevard and started on the main yard when the same car drove by again.. this time going the other direction. I didn't recognize the driver, but I wasn't wearing my glasses so maybe that had something to do with it.... but I finished that yard and decided to skip the back yard and just go lock myself in the house.. so that's what I did.

I was really nervous to sleep in the house alone, so I asked Neechel if she would come and sleep over. She said yes, so I let her in and immediately locked the door after her. Paranoid much? We had a blast! We watched some more Glee and had a dance party! We went to bed and woke up this morning very tired. We went to church like good little people do. That was like the climb of the roller coaster... and just when you reach the top you realize.. what goes up must come down....

I hate being alone... and with my family gone I am just feeling super lonely. To make it all worse... it's my Hannah's birthday today, she's turning the big EIGHT and I wasn't able to be with her on this happy day! I called Justin to see if I could talk to her.. but they didn't answer. He texted me and told me to get on skype, so I paused my episode of Glee and got on. I was almost too emotional to say happy birthday! How ridiculous is that. I had just watched a really awesome episode of Glee that touched me and made me tear up... for those who watch.. the one where they performed with the deaf school.. holy cow... So I was skyping her and my dad asked me what was wrong.. I had to choke back my tears as I told him I was just lonely.. I fought them the whole 10 minutes or so we chatted.

I'm not exactly sure what is happening to me! I guess I just have a lot on my plate.. I work full time, which means no vacations for me.. could be worse though, I could be going to summer school... still. I had to miss the 'spectacular' fireworks in Idaho and the fun little family party. There are other reasons... but I guess I'll just sum those up by the words to one of my favorite songs... "she's in love with the boy... what's meant to be will always find a way..." well. That's my sob story for you today..

A Tribute.

I just wanted to make it clear that I have the most AMAZING friends in the world!

A. Justin Rex Baker has been my best friend for a long long time. He's the person I go to for advice in all my sticky situations and when the drama of life appears. He is an incredible example and leader of our family *sibling wise anyway* I miss him too much. When he went on his mission I was devastated... for a while.. then we started growing in the gospel, which enhanced our relationship by a HUNDRED times. He's my go-to. I love him to pieces and I just wanted to tell everyone how much I love him! Honestly, the greatest brother ever. :)

B. Stephanie Lynn Drew. Okay, so we've been best friends for a while now. Since.. about grade 9. But... we weren't always that way. We actually used to hate each other. Funny. We fought over a best friend and look where we ended up! I love this girl to death and I trust her with my life! She is so strong, and we have a lot of things in common. Her family is my second family, and I love them all! Though we've drifted a little bit in this past year, we can still get together and have a great time.... her new favorite past time. Knitting. She's making me something special :) hahaha! If she read this she'd laugh. I know I sure did! :) I love her. Nothing else needs to be said.

C. Laura Lynn Stoddard. What a blessing! She is my newest best friend. I love her to pieces. We met in... unusual circumstances and if you ask her she'll just laugh. Good thing I'm kind of a stalker, or I wouldn't have met her.. or my other friend from Utah! (see E.) She is honestly the greatest! Her and her family helped me find a home in Utah. I hated it there until my Heavenly Father blessed me with this friend. She was an answer to my pleading, and I thank Him every day for the wonderful blessing Laura is. I'm excited to get back to her! She's hilarious. We've had some pretty awkward moments.. and many, many late nights just talking and laughing. It's a pretty perfect friendship!

D. Nicole Pamela Martin. She's my one and only twin. We discovered that we share a date of birth. Therefor making us twins... and well.. our cousins are cousins. No big deal. :) I love her! She just graduated from high school. Yep. Now she's all grown up and going to experience the stress of the real world. Best of luck. :) haha. Nicole is like my clone. Honestly we should have been twins. We have one major difference though. She's diabetic. Probably the worst diabetic I've ever known. ;) She knows it, so it's okay that I say that. For anyone who really knows me... I hate hospitals. But.. one day I got home from a hard day's work and I had a message from her mother telling me she was in the hospital. I sucked it up and went and visited with her for two hours while she was there. I know.. I'm such a good friend. ;) hahaha. just kidding. I just felt it a good thing to do to visit her while she was there. And it was fine. I survived. I love her. We've had quite the history but we suck it up and get over it. All in all... I'm really glad we're friends.

E. Jacob McClure Van den Akker. Okay.. This is the friend Laura introduced me too... again we had kind of a strange meeting. Story of my life. So.. Jacob got his mission call to Seattle, Washington. He leaves in approximately 18 days. Not that I'm counting or anything. (really I'm not... I just counted it out on my calendar for this post.) I just really love this kid! He's one of the best friends I've ever had. He's a pretty big part of who I am today. He knows me almost better than I know myself. He is so great to talk to, he reminds me a lot of my dad. When things in my life get rough I go to him because he gives the BEST advice, and he helps me realize that life is okay.. and challenges are given to everyone. It's what we do with them that make us either better, or worse! I'm going to Utah in 5 days to say farewell, and as hard as it will be it will be worth it! I just want to say a big thank you and congratulations to him on doing the right thing and I'm SO SO proud! :)

F. Carlene Janet Palmer. Oh my lantus I love this girl! She is doing her practicum and the U of A hospital to become an x-ray tech! She'll be graduated in May of '11 and I am so happy for her. As much as I wish she could have gone to Weber with me, she knows that this was the best decision for her. She's a greatest! Recently we had a tea party with Steph, and it was wonnaful! :) (that's the accent we all know and love). Carlene was my Physics friend, and honestly without her DRAGGING me there I probably wouldn't have gone. She forced me to take Physics 30 with her, and I'm so glad I did. We had some splendid times... even though I was called "the class disturbance". Our lives are so different, but what I love about our friendship is that no matter how long it's been since we've talked or seen each other, the instant we are together it's like we never left! I can't wait for her to experience her first boyfriend! :) T'will be a hot topic to talk about when it happens! We can share all the juicy details! :)

G. Last but certainly not least.... Neechel Kymber Steed. I love this little girl so much! She is one foxy mama. We have had so many amazing times together.. starting back in good old grade 9.. we were the oddest pair of friends you could ever see.. Me being close to giant, and her close to midget. I bet anyone who saw found great pleasure. :) despite our height difference we were as close as sisters. Now we're different people living different lives, but we still find on occasion a chance to play. I'm the friend she chooses when she needs a rescue from a date... in other words, she calls me when she needs a double. She is a gorgeous young girl... whoever gets her in the end will be the luckiest man alive! She's hard working and terrific with kids. We have similar goals in life, and I am glad she's my friend!

I do have many more wonderful friends! And I thank all of them for helping me find who I am in this world. All of them are such wonderful examples to me and make me strive to live a better life! Love you guys!!