Independence Day Weekend

So last weekend my brother Jeff and his wife Kira and their incredibly adorable and amazing baby Jeffrey (the second) visited us! It was such a fun weekend. Mom, Dad, and I were all freaking out about seeing baby Jeff because....well who wouldn't be? The first grandchild/nephew in the family, perfect in every way, cutest baby ever, and we never see him. So we were EXCITED. And of course we were excited to hang out with Jeff and Kira too.

Coming home from the airport. He is a jolly baby!

Cutest baby ever? I think so.

Saturday was kind of lame because they all went to Leavenworth, but I had to stay home so I could get to work. :(

Sunday we had an amazing dinner and invited Jeff's old friend to dine with us.

Monday was the 4th of July! It was the best! We went on a hike to Barclay Lake. But we had to carry the baby because we didn't have a backpack...and he got a little fussy the last 20 min. Oh well. We went home and watched a movie and ate a BBQ feast, and lit off fireworks! (because its legal in Snohomish County ;).

Jeffrey's gangsta hiking attire.

Barclay Lake

A little tired and hungry :(

Tuesday we drove into Seattle and went to Pike Place market and got Dicks. Who wouldn't love that?

Pike Place Market

Having fun in the stroller. 

So that was my weekend. It may look like I'm an obsessed Aunt....because I am. And why shouldn't I be? :)

Kangaroos in the Great Northwest

Last week Jamie's friend Nichole was in town so they were doing a bunch of fun things visitors to Washington just HAVE to do. Well I've lived here my entire life and I've never been up to Kangaroo Farm in Arlington, so they invited me! It was super fun, though it did start raining. But this is Washington....

The Kangaroo Farm called "The Outback" includes dozens of Kangaroos and Wallabys (and apparently Wallaroos too...??), several Tortoises, Donkeys, Llamas, a Miniature Horse, Emus, and an Ostrich. And I can't forget the Lemurs, and all of the poultry: chickens, roosters, a turkey, peacock, and strange mutated ducks.

Enjoy the pictures!

Outside the cute Cabin where we bought our tickets

Lemur! Everyone who danced like they do in "Madagascar" got to feed them. That was us and the children.

Turkey

Kangaroo trying to take shelter from the rain

It is fuzzy, but this wallaby has a little Joey in her pouch!

Miniature Horse, apparently he's a little aggressive cause they didn't let us near him

First Kiss :)
Actually, I'm feeding him.

I'm excited.

So.
I feel like I start out every post saying "so". I don't care. I like it.

So, well, I went to the zoo yesterday!!! Emily Culp is home for a short visit so I went to the Woodland Park Zoo with her and her parents. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera. But I will steal pictures from Emily. Pictures from the zoo to be posted soon.
But visiting that wonderful park brought back many warm and happy childhood memories. I was sad that the Nocturnal house seemed to have disappeared. Perhaps it was replaced by the new Dinosaur exhibit. WHY WOULD THEY REPLACE REAL, COOL, ANIMALS WITH FAKE, DEAD ONES???? That was my burning question. Lets just say I was disappointed. But I did have fun. I felt like a young girl again, getting overly excited at seeing the giraffes, lions, the brown bears. It inspired me with a new-found desire to travel back to Africa and see, not the pyramids, but go on a SAFARI!! Oh man! One of these days....maybe in the next 30 years.... I will get there. I will see zebras and elephants in the wild. I WILL!
It also inspired me to watch Planet Earth. I forgot how much I loved that show! It is so cool! If you haven't watched them, I strongly encourage you to check it out. I watched one last night....they make learning enjoyable!

Well this is what I'm looking forward to this summer:
Matt is coming home this weekend!!! I am seriously so excited. Not only do I get my wonderful brother back for a week and half, but we'll probably eat some delicious food, watch a good movie or two, and play some awesome frisbee. I'm excited.
Also. I get the car back ;) Just sayin.

Also, my brother Jeff, his wife Kira and my adorable nephew Jeffrey are visiting over the 4th of July!!! YAYY!! It's going to be so fun. I get to play with the cutest baby in the world and hang out with my awesome brother and sister-in-law to celebrate the wonderful birth of our nation!

(thank you to Kira for supplying me with these pictures from her blog.)

Next, I get to go to New York and D.C. to visit my sisters and brother-in-law starting July 14th.! My parents and I get to spend a few days in my sister's sweet apartment in Manhattan, and then we just get to spend some quality time with everyone.

picture taken at the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland - 2010

You know, everything that I'm looking forward to this Summer has to do with family! I love my family. There is nothing more special :) I sure am grateful I was blessed with such wonderful parents and siblings.

taken at the Acropolis in Athens, 2008.
missing: Josh Dalton, Baby Jeffrey Michael McDonald II

p.s. I didn't mention one VERY important thing. HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 2. We will just happen to be in New York City the night it comes out. I am determined to go the midnight showing, alone if necessary. My parents and sister may not be as excited about this as I am, but...HELLO! This is my childhood! Harry is my past, present,...and future! How can I tell my children I didn't go to the midnight showing of the FINAL Harry Potter movie, because I was in New York?! Its against everything I stand for. Don't worry fellow Harry Potter fans, I won't let you down.

Summer

So. Life keeps moving on. Mom told me I needed to do another blogpost....and I thought, what am I supposed to blog about? It's not like I saw the pyramids last week, or went to Petra yesterday. Do people really want to know about how my night at work was, or how my Ultimate Frisbee game went?

I don't know. Maybe you do.

Also, I never take pictures anymore. I took out my camera for the first time last weekend when we went to folklife. That's weird, and boring. My life is boring now. But that's okay. Here, I'll update you:

Besides pleasure reading, my latest project has been organizing all my Jerusalem pictures so I can print them out and put them into a real life album. That's right. REAL. Not just on the computer. You can actually touch it and turn the pages. You may think it's old school, but I like it.

Here is one of the pictures I came across, and I am obsessed with it:

I miss my beautiful roommates

Next up. Monday was Memorial Day. So fun! My friends and I went to Folklife down in Seattle. What a blast. I mean, if you want to see the wonderful and crazy people of this city, go to Folklife. Hippies, musicians, artists; tattoos, piercings, and pot. All of it. And I saw tons of stuff in little shops and stands that I saw in Israel. Except that it was 3xs more expensive here. haha. Good thing I bought it all there! Though I only took a few pictures, here is a sample of what we saw:

WAY creepy.

Strange mirror man.

Also, SO much food. Wonderful food. First we got some delicious corn. Then I got a crepe, with strawberries and whipped cream and chocolate sauce drizzled over and cinnamon and powdered sugar sprinkled on. Divinity. Then I got "Shishkaberries" Chocolate covered strawberries and bananas on a stick. Too bad I didn't take pictures of those, cause there were all so pretty.

To finish off Memorial Day, we went to the Branch picnic at the good 'ole Bothell buildig. We played soccer, which was a blast, though I bruised my ankle hard core (dad said I burst some blood vessels, guess I'm not used to playing without shinguards). And then we feasted on hamburgers, salad, chips, homemade root beer and delectable desserts . Classic.

No matter how much I miss Israel, I will always love the great United States. "God bless America! Land that I love...." 

After living out of the country for a few months, I am definitely more grateful for the freedoms that we hold here in the U.S. Never forget how lucky we are and always thank those who sacrifice for our blessed freedom and liberty.

Till next time...

Look, I know I keep changing my blog background. I'm really indecisive, and I like change. I will probably end up changing my blog name, as soon as I think of something better.

So, just deal with it.

:)

Goals

Ok people.

I am making some goals. Some resolutions. I am going to be BETTER!

Of course, I decided this all last night, a Sunday, when I was all spiritually enlightened from a great day. I always feel like being "better" after a great Sunday. And then Monday rolls around....

But the fact that I am writing this Monday morning means I am still thinking about being good! Its a good thing.

So here they are. I wrote them down at about 1:00 last night.

1. Read scriptures at least 20 min everyday (preferably before 11:00 p.m.)
2. Exercise everyday (if possible)
3. Clean my room (today) and keep it clean. This is includes a massive organization project.
4. Do SERVICE! I am going to be more aware of the people around me and their needs. Whether they are my closest friends and family, or random members of the branch or coworkers, I will be there to make their day better :)

Those are the main ones. I really hope that I don't fail, because I hate that.

But here's the thing. I've been trying to think of a way of doing what Elder Holland asked us to do before we left Jerusalem. He told us that we can't ever forget what we learned, we can't ever go back! So I was struggling to keep my memories and feelings fresh and not feel the pain of missing a chunk of my heart. Also, I just gave a talk in church, which gave me a chance to talk about Jerusalem, but I won't have that many more opportunities to give talks. So now I am going to use my love for the Savior to serve and help others. To be His hands. I think it is the perfect way to keep the Jerusalem spirit with me. And as I serve others, I will forget my own Jerusalem woes and feel as happy as I did during those 4 amazing months. :) I am so excited!

life

So. It feels so strange to report that nothing exciting has been going on in my life...what a change.

The post-Jerusalem depression has been getting easier. Most days are perfectly fine, especially if I'm busy hanging out with my friends (which usually consists of sitting at Jamie's talking....maybe playing catchphrase or Mario Cart), and I have work three nights a week to distract me.

Preservation Kitchen is actually treating me pretty well. Its almost fun! I'm getting the hang of the whole hostess and server's assistant thing. And its kind of fun because I get to dress up and look cute, but then I get really jealous of everyone around me having a night out and eating delicious food. Oh well.

Sometime last week I opted to go to bed instead of going to Jamie's after work. So in bed I started looking on facebook...at pictures of Jerusalem friends etc. And guess what? It HIT me. I had this huge ache in my chest like there was a chunk of my heart that was missing. And all I wanted was to be back at the Jerusalem Center with my three incredible roommates, or be back on the bus next to Abby driving somewhere amazing, or be wandering the streets of my favorite city with no care in the world. But...I had to tell my aching heart that it was over. Depressing right?

I realized that this is why I always want to hang out with my friends at night. To distract me from awful experiences such as that.

But other than random hear-wrenching experiences like those, I'm doing great. :)

I need to get another job to supplement the three nights a week that I have. But I'm having fun going to the weekly events. Church on Sunday, FHE Monday, work Tuesday, Ultimate Frisbee Wednesday, work Thursday, partying Friday, and work Saturday and party after work!

See? Life after Jerusalem isn't too bad, right? ...maybe? :)