I went to the Anne Frank exhibition at the SLC library the other day. Anne's dad was the only one to survive- when he got the journal entries of Anne's he didn't have any idea all of these feelings and ideas could have been going on inside Anne. I think children have so much more to offer than people ever realize. I hope I have children like her someday who are brave and good and thought-provoking and interesting.
How many 14 year olds come up with things like this?
'I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.'
'How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.'
'The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be.'
'Who would ever think that so much went on in the soul of a young girl?'
I'm going to St. George this weekend and whenever I think of southern Utah I think of this painting by Maynard Dixon. It is at the MOA and I've probably looked at it approximately 200 times. I want to be sitting there on my lime green lawn chair watching that sky and not worrying about time passing by...
My sidekick while traveling, Kami, posted a wonderful, little selection of pictures from our trip. She missed me a lot once I left :) I haven't posted many pictures from that trip and have shown only a few people anymore than what's on here....She was a good, little (literally) companion and it was fun to roam around Asia with her by my side! We became much more bold as the trip went on and it was fun to see how we changed because of it. I still wish I could go back...
Hmmm....I will not lie. I did NOT want to come back. And, I will also say that I would go back traveling in the blink of an eye. After a month of traveling, planning things out the day before or even the hour before, I got so used to it...in fact, I really, really liked it. I do not like that I have to come back to reality, but I still doooooo. I planned on moving back to California, but there was 1 job in Utah that I decided would make it worth it to stay. So, 5 days after I got back, I got the job (at United Way). Scary, since I thought I had a month before deciding anything! The Lord doesn't work on my timetable though. I get to work with volunteers and help make the volunteer programs of partner nonprofits more successful. I also get to work on tons of service projects and hopefully get lots and lots of people involved. I'm a bit nervous, but this is something that I love and have always thought to be so important...so, it will be great. I'm still feeling a little bit returned missionary like. haha. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but I feel kind of awkward and uncomfortable with most people. It helped that 2 weeks after I got back, my family surprised me and came to Utah for their spring break. I got to play lots of basketball with my brothers, games with everyone, go running/gym with my gpa and brother, go to conference with my two youngest brothers (who have never been), eat lots of yummy food, visit other family, run around the neighborhood on easter with bunny masks on delivering treats to widows (it was as ridiculous as it sounds), and hug my brothers lots and lots. Now, my sister will be up here in a week!
My 16 yr old brother is 6' 2 1/2" as is not done growing. His arms are disgustingly long, BUT they work great when it is freeeeezing outside. I really love my brothers.
Conference center babyyyy. Some really nice family sat behind us and took the picture afterwards. They told me about 5 times how sweet and cute my brothers and I were with each other. HA! I sure tricked them.
Just the precious little family in blue. Just look closely at Baci's smile.
Megan LOVES to get these shots of me. She is tricky. But, I did spend lots of time holding that cutie's hand. Better than any other boy.
So, I am not so good at blogging. I figure that I have my journal and that is probably most important. Plus, I have to pay to use the internet. One dollar an hour is just too much...
Lao was beyond beautiful and so much fun. We met a million travelers in the capital and hung out with them, rode bikes, watched the sunset, ate delicious food, stepped in the most disgusting sewage drain on the planet, met the senior service couples, and stayed in the nastiest guesthouse on the planet. On the way to Luang Prabang, via the VIP bus that was the grossest bus ever and had a bathroom that was so small I couldn't even step inside, we met three Israeli boys. We spent the next week with them and they definitely managed to keep me entertained. Lots of cards, laziness, bike riding, eating sandwiches on giant baguettes for one dollar, waterfalls, horribly steep hiking routes, and temples on every corner. After LP, the boys, Kami and me went to a small village in Northern Lao via a pick up truck for 3 1/2 hours (where I might have been sitting on a tiny, wooden chair in the middle that would regularly fall over causing me to hit people). No electricity, no internet, freezzzzzing cold showers, and a wonderful hammock. The village is right next to lots of hill tribe villages so we hiked to some of them while passing tons of cows and water buffalo. We hung out with a lot of the villagers and somehow we ended up going to pick vegetables with them. Really, we watched them pick these weeds from the rice fields that they apparently eat. I could have stayed in the village forever, but that would not have been responsible so we left those adorable Israeli boys and traveled 2 days and 500 hours back to Thailand.
Here is one of the little girls who went to pick vegetables. She could not stop smiling when I threw her on my back.
So many little babies are completely naked and I think it is hilarious and somewhat adorable (not in a creepy way!)
Sunset over the mighty Mekong. It is amazing to see how necessary this river is to the survival of the communities that surround it.
I know I look awesome.
Here is Kami and I if you couldn't figure it out. That scenery in the background is not photoshopped if you can believe it.
Here are my favorite Israeli boys.
This guy was ridiculous. We got to the waterfall and he was making this big scene taking off his shirt. He was so happy. When I went to get my picture taken he would not move and I spent 5 minutes trying to coax him off the rocks.
Here is a lovely scene from our bike ride in the capital city. Worak here somehow managed to break the chain off the bicycle. We spent an hour trying to fix it and it never worked. When I say we, I mean 4 Laotian boys who ended up making the chain worse.
I went to the Anne Frank exhibition at the SLC library the other day. Anne's dad was the only one to survive- when he got the journal entries of Anne's he didn't have any idea all of these feelings and ideas could have been going on inside Anne. I think children have so much more to offer than people ever realize. I hope I have children like her someday who are brave and good and thought-provoking and interesting.
