Take A Back Road By Rodney Atkins

I'm in Kansas for the weekend.

This song came on the radio yesterday as I was stuck in traffic heading home from work.

{Thanks for sharing, Myriah!}

I love Kansas! I love weddings! I love General Conference!

Perfect weekend?

Yessss.

Apple Picking time!

My friends and I had a lovely apple picking day on Saturday!

We drove up to Wisconsin and enjoyed a refreshing day at the apple orchard.

Action shot:

We topped off our apple picking adventure with hot dogs and donuts. Yummm. (Apple cider was an option as well, but I'm not a fan of the cider stuff.)

The highlight of my weekend was watching the General Relief Society Broadcast. You watched it, right? Did you love it as much as I did?! If you missed it, be sure to check it out here.

'Tis the Season!

...for Christmas card making!

After work tonight, I went with my co-worker Jaime and her mom to a card making class.

I forgot how much I love scrapbooking/card making!

Here's the finished product!!

(The little snowman on the left is my fave.)

I just talked to my mom on the phone and asked her if I could just scrapbook as my full time job. She reminded me that I've already tried that twice. (I worked at a scrapbook store in KS during high school and then again in Chicago while looking for a full-time job.)

Good point, Mom.

Anyway, now I'm going to bed with Christmas songs in my head...

fa la la la la, la la la la

Don't Tell

I haven't washed my hair in three days. (Just so you know: I did shower!)

My co-worker told me she liked my hair like this.

What would people say if I didn't wash my hair for four days?

Argentina!

I'm in love with the month of September. (I'd secretly love to get married in this month. Maybe Labor Day Weekend 2012? Fall colors are my fave.)

Perhaps I love this month because I returned from my mission from Argentina on Sept. 10, 2008 - 3 years ago!! Each year on my anniversary return date, I wake up almost in a panic, with a million questions running through my head.

1. What have I accomplished in 3 years?
2. What would I say to my mission President if I had an interview with him tomorrow?
3. Puedo recordar Espanol?

A mission is such an emotional roller coaster packed with miracles galore and experiences that will be forever engraved into who I am today.

On my flight to S.L. last weekend, I read this article in the Sept. 2011 Ensign, "Courage to Serve." The article highlights testimonies of "young returned missionaries who share how they found the strength to overcome the obstacles that come with deciding and preparing to serve a mission."

On my anniversary day, I've been reflecting back to the time when I was an intern in S.L. working in the Public Affairs Department for the church and thoughts slowly started appearing in my mind about a mission. I had just graduated from college and I was starting to feel anxious about my future.

*July-ish 2006. I got a call from Angelica, my BFE (Best Friends for Eternity), who was finishing up her final semester at BYU-I.

Our phone convo -

Angelica: "I'm considering the 3 M's in my life right now - Manhattan (she was offered an internship at a PR Firm), Marriage, or a Mission."

Me: "Wait. A mission?? Where did that idea come from?" I giggled.

My personal thoughts:
"I grew up in Kansas where I was a missionary and representative of the church my whole life. I can pretty much cross a mission off my list of life options. Oh, and I could never dress like a sister missionary."

Fast forward a few months (Angelica received her call to serve in Houston!):
I'm working on the LDS newsroom Web-site and I was asked to write a brief article that would be used to inform journalists about the missionary program of the church. In gathering my research, I quickly noticed that journalists were so intrigued with the concept of young missionaries leaving their native lands to serve missions throughout the world. The New York Times had an article about a recent convert from England that decided to take a break from medical school for the time being to serve a mission in New York. Another article in Arizona talked about an Elder who decided to serve a mission, even though he was in a wheel chair.

After a couple of days of working on the article, I remember sitting in my work cubical and these thoughts running in my mind:

- I've been so blessed to complete my Bachelor's degree at a very affordable university so I don't have huge financial obligations that would prevent me from serving.
- I'm healthy.
- My family are all active in the church, and I know they would support my decision. (My mom served a mission and was very honest with me that a mission is a lot of hard work!!)
-Maybe a mission would be a good choice. Maybe not. I don't think so.

Other experiences happened that kept caused more thought bubbles to come into my mind about a mission.

So I decided to schedule a quick interview with my bishop.

As I walked into his office after our Sunday meeting (this was Octoberish), he looked up from his office desk and asked, "How are you Amanda? What's been going on in your life?" I burst into tears. (His thought bubble was probably that he had a mental case on his hands..haha..)

Me: "I've been thinking about serving a mission."

He smiled. After a brief conversation, he handed me the necessary paperwork and counseled to make a prayerful decision if this was the best choice for me and that I shouldn't go only because I felt like it was the next option as a single college grad. HE WAS SO RIGHT.

I met with him every Sunday in October! I cried often. I was frustrated because I couldn't feel a complete confirmation either way about serving - a mission is a good thing, right? I felt like Heavenly Father was leaving the decision completely up to me and either way was fine. My bishop felt differently. In this situation, he counseled that I would receive a yes or no answer. He had me complete the paperwork and said when I had an answer he would submit the paperwork or toss it.

I kept praying.
I kept feeling frustrated.
And then -
The answer came. 100% confirmation.

I called my bishop with excitement to tell him I was so ready to have my papers submitted. "I'm excited and I know this is the best decision for me right now in life," I told him.

My bishop said that he knew it was right - he was just waiting for me to know it was right too!

I clung to that confirmation that I knew a mission was right for me when certain days presented challenges.

Ahhh the memories and the people who have changed my life for the better.

I think about my mission often - pretty much daily. Other returned missionaries often comment that as the years go by, my mission will start to feel like a dream. If that's the case, my mission was one of the happiest dreams in my life that taught me more than I could have ever imagined and has been a springboard to active gospel living.

Ferris Wheel Ride

Our FHE activity on Monday night was riding the Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier - something that's been on my Chicago to-do-list since I moved here!!

I have to apologize to all my family and friends that have come to Chicago and I haven't taken you on the Ferris Wheel.

COME BACK!!

Soon.

Because this is the view from the top:

Have you heard the song, "This City" by Patrick Stump? YouTube it!!

**This city, is my city, and I love it. Yeah, I love it**

Utah, Utah!

Double the fun when we're together.

Steele sure loves being an Uncle.

Along with catching up with my family, enjoying Cafe Rio *Pork Salad* and BYU Football, I also ran up to Park City and spent the night at a pretty fancy resort with some of my Chicago friends. We walked down main street and stopped by a little joint to enjoy an upcoming band - The Zach Hillyard Band. Abby and I secretly want to marry Cowboys.

Thanks, Delta (and all the other airlines for that matter) for allowing me to visit my family so often!

Just a quick shout out to all my Utah friends - especially those who read my blog!! - who I didn't get to see. Hey, Ginger, Taylor, Valentina, Kate and Betsy, next time I'm in Utah, can we plan a brunch date?

Perfect.

Dear Summer,

can you stay around forever?
thanks.

i've gotta go pack. i'm headed to utah for a little family time with these guys:

enjoy your weekend of no labor!