The Moment!

Sorry I've been putting off posting for a few days. People have been asking for these pics haha! But here it goes- So November 19th was the LONGEST day of my life! First off I went to work just like I said. It was pretty good I guess. As Bo's plane was landing I got lucky and we didn't have any patients so I got to check my phone for the picture texts :).... Anyway, Bo's plane was delayed an hour and a half so he and his family weren't able to make it home for his 5 o'clock release time. So needless to say they changed it to 6:30 so my anticipation level was higher than ever! I got a text at 6:15 from his family saying they were headed to get him released so I freaked out and rushed to his house as fast as I could! I can't even explain how I felt! My heart was pounding like no other and I was going crazy!! My friends joined me and waited with me! Can I just say that I am so happy they were there cause I ended up waiting at Bo's house for 2 HOURS!!!! Oh my gosh!!!!! By the time he got there my anticipation was almost gone but it was still perfect. Once I saw him it didn't matter how long I waited! I stood on his porch, his family pulled up and then I saw him walk around the back of the car and then he picked me up at we HUGGED! There ya have it! One of the BEST nights of my life!!! Couldn't have asked for more!

It's For REALS!!!!!

It's Official!

It's official! Elder Harris is now on his way home! Today at approximately 4:10 pm his time and 12:10 pm our time he departed Recife, Brazil.

I'm sure the moment was bitter/sweet for him. At this time I can't explain my feelings but I am sure for him, it is much harder. Sleep seems to not be an option these past couple days as I've prayed and thought much about his thoughts and his feelings. He said goodbye to everything he has known for two years (his 'other' home). All the new things he learned has become the norm for him. His new comfort zone, his routine. Although he has a lot to look forward to upon his return, I've taken a look back at the people he's met and taught, experiences he's had, the way he's grown, the way he's depended on the Lord and I can't help but feel for him right now. A chapter in his life has come to an end.

I don't say all this because I am sad. I am very happy! I am proud of him, his desire, and his vigor! He was and always will be an amazing missionary!

On another note: 'The Plan' for TOMORROW!!

I have to work tomorrow. Well I chose to work. Once I decided I wasn't going to the airport I decided I should probably work and do something semi-constructive and try to keep my mind off him for seconds at a time. So, about the same time I arrive at work he will be arriving in Atlanta, Georgia. While I'm at work I will be trying to avoid the texts and pic texts I get from his family of him :D Ok maybe I won't avoid them but hey- my emotions are so crazy right now that who knows what I'll do when I see a pic of him and realize it's FOR REAL!!!!

Anyway, I'll get off work around 1 and go to lunch with one of my good friends :).. That will help kill some time! After that who knows. Go home. Chill with my mom. Have my mom paint my toe nails he he. Get in the shower. Do my hair yada yada... Um, hopefully by then it will be close to 5! If it's not close to 5 I'll probably watch the clock like usual :/

His parents and I have code words that we are going to text to each other which means they are leaving for the church for his release and for when they are headed back home :) While they are at the church I am going to drive to their house and wait on their porch! And then the MOMENT will happen!!! I will be able to give him the most GINORMOUS hug ever!!! Wish me luck! I'll post all about it later!

One More Preparation

So I decided to do one more preparation before Elder Harris gets home and that was to do a spray on tan. I can't be like pasty when he gets home! He is gonna be all tan! I mean he is in Brazil soaking up the sun! Can't decide if I am regretting my decision or not. I was told that I wouldn't be able to tell at first but throughout the day my tan would get darker and darker. Sure enough that was true! My hands look the worst. They are orange and my finger nails look dirty haha (bad pic I know)! OOPS! The rest of my body seems to be doing ok though. Lets just home it tones down a little in the next 3 days!! Yep I said 3 DAYS!! Ahh I can't wait!!!

1 WEEK!

SORRY THIS IS SO LONG!

So I have one week til Elder Harris gets home! ONE WEEK! Can you believe it?! Not gonna lie, this month has been the SLOWEST month of my life! Oh my gosh! Dramatic? Yes! Why? Cause the moment I see him, the time I get to spend with him, EVERYTHING!!! It determines my future! MY FUTURE! The moment I see him is basically the thing I've thought about most the past 2 years!

I'm not quite sure how to get my thoughts out of my head to make them make sense to anyone, even myself. There are so many things I think about.

I remember so vividly the day he left, the day my life changed, the day I started having my relationship with him thru paper and emails. In a way it was perfect. We'd prepared ourselves together for that day. Have we prepared ourselves (not necessarily in the same way) to meet again? Will it have that same sense of 'perfect' as when he left? Our relationship can once again go back to face-to-face!

Face-to-face sounds like the greatest thing I've heard of in a long time. But, will we pick up where we left off? Will he be weird? Better yet, will he think I'm weird or different from before? I play in my mind how I think our 'moment' will be, but how will it really be? I know he's changed and I've changed but how exactly? Sorry for the question overload! Should have cautioned you... Too many things in my head I tell ya! I know I'll come back to this post later and think about why I even had these thoughts. Funny, but what can I say?!

On a different note my life has seemed to already change in the last week. I can't really tell you why, but it has. I think it's a good change.

*I've prayed and pondered much.

* I go to bed early- like 9:30 or 10:00. Don't call me a loser cause I already know I am haha! Maybe this isn't good or bad but in my head I just tell myself that 'the earlier I go to be the faster the next day will come.' Which means...da da da... one more day down!

* I watch the clock.. ok a bad change! (FYI I never recommend this)

*I am excited! Not nervous! The nervousness of it all is gone!!! Amazing feeling!

*I got my hair dyed! Gotta look good, right?!

*Maybe this isn't a way of preparation, but last week I went shopping! I finished getting Elder Harris' bday presents and I got an outfit for the day he gets home :D (pics to come)

So maybe all my preparations are good... Maybe I don't really know how to prepare, I'm not gonna lie. I guess all I gotta do right now is remain composed ;) wish me luck on that one!

Happy Note: Yesterday as I read Elder Harris' email it kinda hit me that this is actually happening! Whoa!

Catch Up

For Halloween weekend I went to Logan. I was so excited when I found out there was a basketball game that weekend :D! Gotta support my Aggies! I had a blast at the game! My friends went super early to get in line so we could get good seats! We won! Yay! The next day we got all dressed up and went to the Howl! It was a lot of fun! Not as much fun as I was expecting cause it was PACKED with people but we did get to see Massive Monkeys from America's Best Dance Crew and an illusionist/mind reader so that made things a little more interesting! Good times though :D

A few weekends ago I went to St. George for the What Women Want Expo. I hadn't seen my sister or her kids since this summer so it was so good to see them. Marli and Dylan are growing so fast! The first night we got there they had me in tears cause I was laughing so hard at them. They were doing tricks and sliding off the couch and their faces would get stuck in between their legs haha! Oh the funny things they do!... Later that weekend we carved pumpkins! I had so much fun!

What Women Want Expo

This weekend, the 23rd and the 24th, my sister will be selling our kangaroo bracelets and rings at the What Women Want Expo in St. George ! We will also be selling little kid capes! They are so cute! They are for boys and girls! We are very excited and hope if any of you are in that area you can check it out!!

Just Plain Mean!

So like I said, we got Elder Harris' itinerary. His parents told me they plan on bringing him straight home after they leave the airport :) (BTW I have decided not to go to the airport. Hence, the smiley face. We get to have our own 'moment'!!) Now, this story may not mean anything to any of you but if you know Elder Harris' dad you'll understand ;)

Since Elder Harris will arrive so early I was a little nervous about him even being able to get released that early. His dad has been telling me that he was going to talk to the Stake Pres to get it all set up and let him know exactly what time they would be home. He's been telling me that he would talk to him since the day we got the itinerary.

Soooo... On Sunday in between Sunday School and Relief Society I got a text from Elder Harris' dad saying he talked to the Stake Pres. I was so excited. So of course my response was "what did he say?!?!" I was not ready for what came next. He said:

"The Stake Pres will be going out of town and won't be back until Saturday night and he won't be able to release Elder Harris til Sunday morning."

FYI, November 19th (the return date) is a THURSDAY! Nooo!!

So, through Relief Society I was FREAKING out on the inside thinking about what I was going to do if he didn't get released til SUNDAY! A whole 3 days after he gets home :( I couldn't respond to the text to get more details cause by that time Relief Society had started, ugh! Needles to say, I did not focus durning the lesson. Horrible, I know! I just had to tell myself that I would just have to leave town that weekend and just come home and see him for the first time at his homecoming! NOOOO! That would kill me! Literally! What kind of welcome home would that be??

Anyway, after church I finally got to text back and I told his dad how I was freaking out and all, so he said:

"I'm just messing with you. He gets released at 5."

AHH, I really did just want to cry! What the heck hahaha! It really is funny now. I should have expected it coming from him but I won't lie, I am relieved! Phew! Now I guess all I gotta worry about is keep myself composed til 5 o'clock!

Great News!!

So good new people! This morning we got Elder Harris' itinerary! Exciting hu?! He will be flying into Salt Lake City on November 19th at 10:09 am!! Ahh! It all seems a little more real to me now!

This weekend I went to Price to be with my BFF Klin! I had a blast with her! I went down for their 'Lite Brite' dance! At this particular dance they tarpped off a room and got buckets of neon paint and just had black lights! It was so cool! I love it! It was kinda hard to dance cause once the floor got covered in paint we were sliding everywhere! I had so much fun though! Thanks for the invite girl!

Before!

After!

I also went to Lagoon! My singles ward went and my friends from Logan met me! I had so much fun! I haven't been to Lagoon in forever! It was kinda cold so I didn't stay long but Lagoon is always fun right?!

Mayday Parade!!

I have been waiting since this summer for Mayday Parade to come in concert! On Tuesday I finally got to see them!! That concert was probably one of the best I've EVER been to! It was even better that we had such a big group of friends there! Mayday Parade are awesome performers (they don't swear every other word like other bands do) and they played all the songs I wanted to hear! We stood in line for about 2 hours freezing but it was all worth it once we got inside. Mayday Parade was doing signings right when we walked in! As I went down the row getting my signatures, my friend Ryan yelled out, "hey Kayla, didn't you want a kiss?" Embarrassing! But, it paid off alright ;) I got a kiss from the singer haha!

My throat is still sore from screaming at the top of my lungs! My body hurts from the moshing, but I guess I can't complain too much!

After the concert was over we went out by the tour bus and got pics with all the members of the band! I love bands such as Mayday Parade who are humble enough to take pics and give signatures to fans! I only know of one other band who has done that! Another great part is I got a few more kisses from the band members tehehe ;)

Honestly, one of the best nights ever! :D

My signatures :)

uhhh... haha!

Klin and me! Our shirts rock!

The boys- thanks for protecting me guys :)

MMMM HMMM!!!

It's now October! Yep, that's right! Which means I can officially say that Elder Harris will be home NEXT MONTH!!! Holy! He also only had 50 DAYS to go! Can't believe it!

Delavina

delavina

My sisters and I are starting to sell bracelets and rings from Australia. They are kangaroo leather. We are getting very excited about it. You can visit our blog to see what they look like – delavina3.blogspot.com

Long Post

Sorry this is such a long post and I have neglected my blog forever!

Carlos

So Carlos is my first car. I killed her a while ago. This event was very tragic to me because Carlos and I have been through a lot. I have had her since I was 15 and she has been nothing but good to me! So as for now I have gone from driving this:

to driving this:

Carlos and I along with many friends have been on many many many road trips to put these miles on her:

We have also been through some minor fender benders that results in scars on Carlos such as this:

I will always love Carlos and miss her deeply :'(

Labor Day Weekend

Over Labor Day I went to Logan of course! I had so much fun and it was good to get to stay a while. I hung out with my friends all weekend and I got to go to Bear Lake. I've never been there before. We got the famous raspberry milk shakes while we were there!

Marathon

I went to Logan a couple weekends ago to watch my friend Nate run in the Logan marathon! We had so much fun cheering on all the contestants! Nate did great! He didn't train much and still made it in 4 hours and 20 minutes! YAY!

Welcome Home!!!

One of my best friends, Elder Larsen returned from his mission in Brazil last Tuesday! One of my best friends, Klin waited for him just as I am waiting for Elder Harris! I got to hang out with her while she got ready and we waited for the big moment when they got to meet once again after 2 years! It was sooo much fun! Their moment was perfect! I love having him home and he reminds me so much of Elder Harris and the good ol' days! I thought time would go slow since Elder Larsen is home but I have to admit, all those people telling me that it will go fast, it kind of is. Maybe the last couple weeks will go slow though! Ugh!

Homecoming!

Last weekend I went to Logan yes once again so that I could attend homecoming events! I had a BLAST! This year they made the homecoming dance stag and you were supposed to dress up as your favorite decade. We couldn't come up with much so most of us just wore tie dyed shirts! I also went to the football game! We won! Oh yeah! I had so much fun and it was great spending it with my friends!

Fun Fun!

Last weekend I got to go to Logan! Yes Logan! I had so much fun! It was so good to see all my friends! I hadn't seen some of them since the last day of school! The ride to there seemed like it took forever cause I was so anxious to get there haha! Friday night was the 80s dance on campus so that's always fun to attend! We had so much fun getting ready and even more fun dancing! I miss Logan sooo much! Hopefully I'll get to visit lots this school year!

PS... I love my new job!! It's so much fun!! I've already learned a lot! It's good to be busy again!

Also, I can't believe that it's September already, which means that much closer to Elder Harris being home! Only one more transfer for him and he will be on a plane! Gah! Can't believe it! Also another on of my friends returning in 21 days!

Good News!!

Good news everyone! I got a job!!! Can you believe it? It seems pretty unreal to me considering I have been searching for a job for SOOO LONG! I am now a tech at ProRehab Physical Therapy! I'm so excited! I trained for the job and I already enjoy it! The physical therapist is a great guy and has lots of energy! I know I will like the people I work with and enjoy the experiences! One patient already scared me today and then started laughing and said he was teasing me so I can tell I'm already up for an adventure with crazy patients haha :D

Princess Party!

Earlier this week we all met up with the cousins and had a princess party! It was required for everyone to dress up haha! But the good news about that is I can still fit into my prom dress! YESS! I really didn't think that was going to happen! We had so much fun! We made crowns and wands and danced around! Look how cute everyone is!

Bath Time!

Marli and Dylan have been visiting for a little over a week now! They were being so cute in the shower and tub last night I just had to post these pics! They have been so fun and silly! Dylan is always looking for Marli and giving her hugs, it's so cute! Can't decide if being around 2 little kids is the best birth control or if it's just the best thing in the world because I know that the next day when I wake up, they seem to have grown already! They grow way too fast and learn new things like crazy! We jump on the tramp everyday and Dylan can already jump better than when he first got here! Love these two!

100 DAYS!

Elder Harris officially only has 100 days until he returns! I can't believe that this day is actually here! I never thought I'd see this day! Time feels slow most of the time but once I think about it, it really has gone by fast! So many thoughts go through my mind when I realize how close it really is! He is doing great and has had so many great experiences! I can't wait to hear more about it when he gets home!

Happy Birthday Klinny!!

Today is one of my best friend, Klinny's birthday! Happy Birthday girl! I hope you had an amazing day! Love you!!

Australia!

I would have to say the best part about Australia was being with these two little guys and might I add that they are 2 of the cutes kids in the world! I got to meet Noa for the first time and he is such a fun baby!  He grew just while I was there! I wonder how tall he is going to end up to be! Kenyon is a riot and is always busy busy, as you can tell he is a funny kid as well! I also enjoyed the company of my sister and brother-in-law! It's probably the best thing in the world to spend time with family- especially family you never see!

Blue water and white sand, couldn't ask for more :)

My brother-in-law and I tried kangaroo meat for the first time together. It was sooo good! This is supposed to be 'kangaroo' in sign language haha! Gotta love the funny faces!

Australia has the coolest parks! Most of them have canopy things covering them so kids don't get sunburned. These two pics were one of the funnest things we played on at the park. The spinning one was the best! We played on it forever until my brother-in-law got sick and couldn't even eat dinner that night :( oops!

 

Movie World was a lot of fun! We road roller coasters and Kenyon LOVED the bumper cars! I think he could have spent all day on them! He thought he was so big cause he was driving a car! The Superman roller coaster was the best, very fast!! There was also a stunt car show that showed how they drive stunt cars in movies! It was crazy!

The Steve Irwin Zoo was one of the highlights of my trip! I was dying to go the second I got there! It was such a good day! We got to see all the crocodiles of course, feed an elephant, feed and pet kangaroos, and pet koalas! The koalas were so cute! I also saw crazy animals like a taz manian devil and a wombat!  

Last, but not least I got to eat Orange Chocolate Chip ice cream the best ice cream EVER! I tried it a few years ago in New Zealand and I never forgot about it. My sister and brother-in-law has only found 1 store in Australia that sells it! I think I'll be craving it for a while!

Thanks Toya and Vake for letting me come! I had a BLAST! I love you guys!