Sometimes My Life is Just One Big Laugh!

This last week has been one of the funniest weeks I've had in a long time!  (and my life is usually hilarious, so that is saying a lot)  Since you are tuned in, get ready for some good laughs.  First I'll start with the bad: I was pretty excited when I came here on the idea that I wouldn't have to listen to that stupid "Call Me Maybe" song for 2 1/2 months, it took 2 1/2 weeks--but that dream was shattered.  Here are some songs I have been greatly disappointed to hear on the radio and even more horrified that people knew the words:

Katy Perry.

"Here's My Number, So Call Me Maybe" - this is really the one I was sad about.

"What Makes You Beautiful"

The family and I get along great and are always making jokes, but I think I'm well accepted because the other day the parents told me they are all going to cry when I leave (and it's 2 months away).  The youngest son is hilarious and is always teasing me, here is a video of his latest favorite thing to make fun of me for, you'll probably recognize this and most likely you too have mimicked me on this particular laugh of mine (he is sick so it's not quite as good as usual):

Wednesday I was SO hungry for breakfast that I kind of zoned out and was focused on my food.  (Which is featured below.  Side note: when my friends who served in South America told me of dipping bread in hot chocolate for breakfast I vowed to never do such a odd and gross thing...now I do it nearly every morning!)  Anyhow I was eating and trying to hold myself together because I was so hungry.  Hermana Martinez has been telling me about the cheese, then I zoned.  She asked "If it was cold like this in the United States" and I stated "that I didn't know because I had never eaten it before".  To which she and Andrés starting cracking up.  Apparently--without me--the conversation had switched to the weather, in particular, autumn.  We had a good laugh about how I had never eaten autumn before.  This of course is an isolated event, I never tune anyone out and go into auto response...I'm sure I've never done that to anyone in the states. ;)

On the topic of food, here is another typical lunch:

Of course there were some classic mis-speaks this week, but the following is one of my favorites:

Andrés was sick so I gave him some of my DoTerra oils.  He was asking what they were all for and as I was explaining I got to wild orange and said it was my favorite because it "Huele MAL!" (meaning it smells bad) which obviously I didn't mean.  So now when we pass a place that smells bad we always laugh about how happy I am.

Presidente graduated from his Masters program this week, so I bought him a cake and had them write "Happy Graduation Shoulder" on it! (if you don't get this, refer to last weeks post) He thought it was hilarious.

Look at the following two pictures and consider what they have in common:

(I know, you wish your hair could be this styling after 3 days of not being washed.)

(This is a pitcher of water I boiled...)

I have been avoiding showers here because it is SO cold!  Sometimes I wait 2 or 3 days.  And for 3 weeks I haven't shave my legs.  This whole time I have been so confused at the girls who shave their legs!  The water is freezing!  There is only one knob to turn, and every time it's cold water.  Once it was less cold, but mostly always cold.  But this weekend was a 10 stake young single adult conference and there were dances, and swimming and I needed to shave.  I happened to be chatting with my roommate from AZ, who is friends with the family, and told her about how I just heated up water on the stove to shave with.  This is when THREE WEEKS after shower with cold water, I found out THERE IS HOT WATER!  There is a trick you do with the handle and no one told me!  I wasn't mad at all, just SO happy I didn't have to shower for the next 2 months with cold water.  It was probably one of the best showers of my life!

Before I get into the conference, que más?  This week I ran 4 miles for Jamie and by mile 3 I thought "Man, I hope it's the altitude that is making this so hard to breath!"

Thursday was a long, hard day of studying...which entailed listening to popular songs most of the day and writing down vocabulary I didn't know.  haha.  My life is tough right now.

This little girl is the cutest thing ever!  Dana is a girl that Maria watches and we became fast friends.  Every time we have a cake for a celebration she always sneaks frosting before it's time to eat it!  I understand, I was (and sometimes am) that way too.

So there is an alarm in the neighborhood that goes off randomly during the day and night.  I asked about it a week or so ago and they explained it was both for something dangerous or bad (a drunk or druggie in the street) or for something good (like a goal for a soccer game).  I thought it was super weird that it could mean good or bad, 'cause how do you know when it is which!?!  I just let it slide though.  I always thought there was some random place in the street where you turned on the alarm, which I also found confusing, again--I let it slide.  Friday was a big soccer game which Colombia won!  It was a great game, and as we watched the game the answer to my questions came clear:

There is a switch in all houses that turns the alarm on!  I about fell out of my chair laughing as I viewed it being turned on and everyone ran to the porch to yell at the top of their lungs "GOOOOOOOAAAAL!!!!!!!"

Here is a photo of me in front of our chapel.  This whole town is tatted up!

I love looking out the window and looking at the graffiti as we go places!  This week as we were going somewhere I looked at these walls and I felt like it was my home, not a vacation.  I knew where we were and I knew how far we had to go, I felt comfortable with my surroundings!  It was sweet.

Just enjoying a drink on the Transmilenio!

Here is one of my favorite journal entries of the week:

"This morning I had a pretty sweet experience at seminary.  First off it is their school break, and there is still seminary this week.  There are 3 members in the class, one of which doesn't come most of the time.  The other two (Andrés and Stefany) are the only members of the church at their school.  Normally seminary is at 5:30 and the teacher walks to each of the boys houses and then we all walk together to Stefany's house, where seminary is held.  Since it is a vacation week seminary is at 8:30 and we just meet at Stefanys without being picked up.  Today, however, it was a 6 because their teacher had something she needed to go to.  Sometimes the teacher doesn't come because she is a single mom of 4 and sometimes she or her children are sick.  She doesn't have a phone, so they just wait and if she doesn't show then there is no seminary that day.  This morning Andrés and I walked to Stefany's house and arrived at 6.  No teacher.  SO what did this 14 year old girl and 16 year old boy do?  They didn't sit and chat, they didn't lay their heads on the table and fall asleep, and they didn't go home.  They sat and read their scriptures.  So I followed suit.  After 15 minutes they said to each other "She is running late, we better start" so they picked a hymn and we sang, they assigned me to pray, and then Andrés gave a spiritual thought.  Now 6:25, no teacher.  So they said, "well we're supposed to be in Matthew 7" so we started taking turns reading verses in that chapter!  5-10 minutes later their teacher comes.  WHAT INCREDIBLE YOUTH!  Pretty sure in the states if the teacher is 15-30 minutes late you bounce!"

       Ok, the singles conference this weekend was hilarious!  And sometimes frustrating.  It was supposed to start Friday night at 6PM with a formal dinner and dance.  Luckily I found a dress that week that would work.  But Jhonatan said we were meeting some of his friends at their house and then heading over after that.  But we didn't leave our house until 5:30, then it was raining pretty hard and we got stuck for 2 hours in traffic because of the accidents on the road.  We get to his friends house and we are pretty soggy and it was cold.  Then we waited another 2 1/2 hours for his friends girlfriend to get ready.  So we show up right after 10PM (it goes till midnight).  I was surprised to note as I walked in that the food for the buffet was still out with servers at hand.  It was quite the elegant event; the tables had white linen tablecloths and napkins, big bouquets of roses, and full silver wear (including 5 forks).  We get to the dance floor and the first two songs are an oldies swing song (which was hilarious because Jhonatan and his friends were all looking at me and copying my dance moves! Baha!) and then YMCA!  I laughed so hard as they all sang the words to YMCA.  There is the proof that it is a world wide LDS dance song!  After that a meringue song came on and I didn't get asked to dance so I sat down at the table.  A little bored because everyone I knew was dancing I went to go peer at the food before it got put up.  It looked good, and being a little hungry I was served a plate of food.  It was a little weird that there were huge stacks of plates and bowls, but I didn't let that deter me.  I went back to the table, sat down, and started picking at my food when Jhonatan comes over and asks, somewhat surprised, if I'm hungry.  I said that I was a little hungry, and immediately everyone starts pouring into the seats at the tables.  The music stops and a prayer is said.  By this point I was thoroughly confused and asked why they stopped the dance in the middle of it to pray?  This is when I found of that in Colombia you dance first, then you eat!  So here is the white girl with her food as everyone else gets in line to be served!  BAHAHAHA!  All the sudden the odd looks on the servers faces made sense!

       The next morning we had to meet at the temple at 5:30!  (keep in mind the dance ended at midnight and it takes forever here to get places because you take the bus or wait for a taxi)  So we get there and they don't have breakfast or anything for us!  We drive 4 1/2 hours (which was supposed to be a 2-3 hours trip) and arrive at the water park.  Which consists of a bunch of pools that are shallow enough that I can easily stand in all of them with my head above water.  It was an interesting experience because there wasn't a ton to do.  So we ended up doing things like the following video:

---coming soon, I'm waiting for it to be sent to me--

Note the "gorro" on my head.  I was handed it when I got there and I didn't understand why, so I put it in my locker.  They didn't say they were mandatory!  So as soon as I got in the pool I got yelled at.  Haha, apparently they think these little caps keep diseases out of the pool.

       As one point I was sitting under a water mushroom thing and the water was pounding on my shoulders, it felt SO nice.  In that moment I realized I really missed be touched.  From my observations they don't really hug here, just a kiss on the cheek for hello and goodbye.  In that moment I thought "MAN, I REALLY WANT A HUG!" (Which was cool because the next 2 days I got a ton of hugs from people!  Gods love right there!!!)  I met some cool people, and talked a lot with them.  I was happy to make some friends.

       The next day I attended the other ward (because I accidentally slept in) and they were AWESOME!  I was so happy it was testimony meeting, and towards the end I got up and bore my testimony.  The sweetest thing followed!  I went back to my seat (in the middle/backish, on a bench by myself) and this older woman who was sitting in the front got up and came and sat by me!  She gave me a big hug, thanked me for my testimony, informed me that we were going to be friends, and held my hand.  It was so tender.  Tears trickled down my cheeks because I had been praying to make some friends this weekend.  I was so grateful to be loved by someone in the same country as me!  She wrote down her name and number and told me to call her, I am so excited!  After the meeting ended probably 20 different people came up to me and introduced themselves and gave me a hugs.  I LOVE that ward!  I went to sunday school with another sister that fastened herself to me and I understood everything that was being said!  I felt so loved and welcomed I want to go back!  I don't think it would be kosher to switch wards, so I think I am going to attend both because I have fallen in love with that ward!

       When I got home from church my favorite dog, Canela, went into labor and had 5 puppies!  They are so cute!

       Because of this Jhonatan and I were late going to that day of the conference.  We missed the first fireside talk.  But we didn't miss the never ending one!  It was about 4 hours in total and there were 3 different times where everyone was sure it was the end, but NO!  I was ready to poke my eyes out by the end.  At one point I was a little bitter and thought "I NEVER WANT TO ATTEND ANYTHING IN THE CHURCH IN SPANISH AGAIN!"  I was super tired, and really hungry, and I had no idea how long it was going to be when I went into it.  In reality I do enjoy listening in spanish, but I was over this particular fireside or storymonies and never ending Q&A's.  After it ended a guy who was sitting in front of me started talking to me. He asked where I was from and he was surprised that I wasn't from Colombia, success!  He got my number, so that is guy number one with my number here.
       Monday was my favorite day of the whole conference!  It was awesome!  We listened to the Temple President talk (which amounted to "if you want to get into Heaven, get married!"--ok, it wasn't that blunt...but...).  After we had lunch and it was super chill day hanging out with people.  That afternoon/evening was my favorite!  It started with dancing (which I was terrible at at first) and then intermittedly each stake would present a cultural dance from countries in South & Central America.  It was AWESOME!  It was nice too because it gave you a rest from dancing!  I didn't think I would get asked that much, but I got asked to dance for every song!  And equally surprising was that I picked it up pretty fast!  I had a blast!

The stake I am in actually had the US and they danced 3 different styles and killed all of them!  I was really impressed.  The last number was a country dance and after they were done they wanted a picture with the gringa:

These are all co-workers of Jhonatan from MTC down here.  I majorily hung out with them this weekend.  They are all super nice and really funny!  It's hard to pick a favorite among them, but probably the 3rd from the left.  She was really fun to talk with.

       By the end of all this I ended up having more confidence in my spanish because I was able to talk with so many different people, I picked up some sweet latin dancing skills, gave my number to two guys, and made quite a few friends and acquaintances!

Una Semana Difícil Bueno

       This week was not an easy one for me.  Last Sunday night I went to a fireside for the singles of this stake.  President Martinez was the speaker, he is the dad of the family I am staying with and I almost always know what he is saying.  But as I sat and listened to him speak I found that there were many times I didn't know exactly what was being said.  About half way through I was wondering why I was having such a difficult time and all the sudden I remembered my previous stake presidents.  As I remembered their talks I remembered the moments when they would say a word and all the congregation would look at one another because we didn't know what it meant.  When I thought of those moments, and how I've been speaking english for 26 years and I still don't know it all, that's when it hit me--I am going to be studying and speaking spanish for a very long time and even then I will not know it all.  I determined I was ok with this, and moved on to keep learning.  But something else settled deep in my heart that night--no one hear knows me.  They don't understand all I want to say, and I don't understand all they say to me.  And for the first time in a long while I felt very much alone.  The family I am with is wonderful, and kind, and funny.  I enjoy their company very much.  But it takes a lot of time to explain my thoughts, it's not easy like it is with my friends at home, and we don't laugh till our stomachs hurt.  I think Anne of Green Gables coined the term "Bosom Buddies", and I was missing mine.  I missed talking to my friends in english, I missed easy communication.  That night when I knelt to pray I decided to start praying in english again, so at least I could have an easy time talking to God.

       Monday morning I woke up at 5 in the morning for seminary (it hit my that night watch at Anasazi has prepared me for going to seminary again! ha) and I wanted so badly to stay in bed.  I got up we waited for the teacher, but she never came.  Andrés decided he wanted to go to her house, and so I accompanied him.  On the walk over my heart was still weighed with the thought of missing dear friends.  When we arrived he started talking to her about a scripture mastery he had memorized.  As I listened to him I thought "Hey, I should memorize some more scriptures while I'm here, I've got the time!"  And immediately the words from a conference address a couple years ago of Elder Richard G. Scott came into my mind that knowing and memorizing scriptures is like gaining a new life long friend. With that my mind shouted "Great idea!  You need those right now!  Start memorizing today!"  And then the words "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not to thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thee for good."  I got very emotional as I sat there and realized I HAD already memorized many scriptures, and thus I HAD many friends with me.  As more scriptures came to mind I felt overwhelming gratitude that all these years after I had memorized them, here they were when I felt so alone in a country far from home.

       Also on Monday I got to skype for the first time with my nephew!  Which I was very excited about, and the conversation was pretty funny.  His face when he saw me was priceless!  His mouth popped open and he immediately requested that I come to his house.  When I told him I couldn't because I was far, far away he paused, then asked "Oh...were you chased by monsters?"  Hahaha, I replied in the affirmative but that I ran fast like him, and that was satisfactory enough of an answer.  Now when I leave the house Andrés Felipe (the 16 year old) warns me to watch out for monsters!  Another classic thing that happened monday was I wanted to show you guys how they do milk here, so I took a picture at a big store and about 2 minutes later (and several aisles over) a security guard approached me and told me sternly that I couldn't take pictures.  I did what any good gringo would do, I acted like I didn't know what he was saying and muttered some things in sloppy spanish (on purpose of course!)  Here is the fruits of my labor:

All of those are bags of milk!  I saw them in boxes in Mexico, but bags was a new experience for me!

Also in this same store I went to use the bathroom and the first stall I entered didn't have toilet paper (as in the whole toilet paper dispenser) "that's weird" I thought and moved to the next stall...but that one didn't have any either!  Good thing I happened to have in my purse my little package of puppy print, smell good tp.

       Tuesday I got to Skype with some friends and I was so happy.  Man I really give it up to you missionaries, it's tough not having friends who speak your language!  That day Sister Martinez and I went shopping again (I think for the 5th or 6th day in a week and a half) and on the bus ride home I thought "I hope I don't die today or tomorrow because I really don't want to tell God that for my last week on earth I shopped most of the days!"  (Luckily my life has been spared.)  When we got home I was showing my spoils to Andrés & Maria when two men came over.  I asked "Quien hay estos hombros?"  And they laughed and laughed, for two reasons.  I had accidentally called them 'hombros' (meaning shoulders) instead of 'hombres' (meaning men).  Bahaha.  Also you call men in the church "hermanos de la iglesia" (brethren of the church), and 'hombres' is somewhat derogatory.  So all in all it was a ridiculous statement.  So we laughed hard and decided it was our new insult/joke.  And we always so it with cattiness.  I think it's my favorite mis-speak so far!  

This town is tatted up!  But some of it is really beautiful.

This week was my first time doing the wash...I'm a fan of how we roll in the states ;)

Shopping on Friday for a suit for President Martinez brought us to this store with a Harry Potter bathroom!  (I am bent over at the waist.)  I thought it was so funny I had to take a picture.  (and thanks to my dad my eyes are never open!)

Some more of the sweet lunches I enjoy here.  I love cooking, but it's super sweet to have a home cooked meal 3 times a day that I do nothing but show up for (most of the time).

Can you see why I'm a little concerned at getting fat here?  I ran 2 times this week because I ate arepas and drank avena so much!

One of the fruits of my purchases.  I can make boots like these...but for $20 I'm sold!  These are one of my favorite pairs of boots.  I went from 2 pairs of boots in the states, to the proud owner of 6 pairs total.  I think I'm done shopping, it's just that things are SO CRAZY CHEAP here!

       Saturday I was listening to some stories the family were telling and expecting I any moment there would be something I wouldn't understand, but it didn't happen.  I understood them completely!  (Now that is not always the case, but it is happening more and more often.  Pretty sweet!)
       I was super excited for general conference this weekend.  Initially I had intended on watching it in spanish, but after trying that for the relief society broadcast I decided against it.  I was alone in my room when I heard the exciting news about a new temple in AZ!  And I had no one to be shocked with about the new age option for missionaries.  But it was a sweet experience.  President Uchtdorf laid it down like he always does, and single-handedly answered almost all the questions I wrote down.  But as usual it just kept coming.  I loved all of it!  I am so excited to have that counsel right now!  It came at a perfect time to set my sails on where I need to go.  I love that we have a living prophet and apostles that speak to us!
       Tonight they had me in charge of FHE.  Of course the song I choose isn't in spanish, and they don't have any other songs about the prophets that I know.  I gave the lesson and I wasn't so sure that it'd go well so I wrote down my thoughts so I would have all the words set up right, but I put my paper down and started and hardly looked at it.  It turned out well!
       Well turns out I'm the same person speaking english and spanish.  Today the mom and dad were teasing me about how sassy I am.  And we are constantly dishing jokes back and forth.  Well I am setting myself to a new schedule this week.  Hopefully it will help my spanish skyrocket!  Sure miss and love y'all!  I'll write again next week if I'm alive ;)  (I went to the stake center today with the family for conference and watched the morning session with the gringo missionaries...when they found out I was living in Bosa central they all got looks on their faces and said it was dangerous.  I don't believe them, I've been here two weeks and it's been fine!  Don't worry, I am very careful still.)

Mi primera semana en Bogotá, Colombia!

       I have been informed (via my dear friends Allison & Kristin) that is has been two years since I wrote on my blog.  I will try to go back and fill in this gap; I was really busy! (No surprise there.)  But a few months ago I decided it was high time I get my spanish to where it should be and I bought a ticket I've been wanting to buy for years.  Since a week ago Saturday, my life has changed dramatically!  It's kind of sweet having no responsibilities...but it's only been a week, so maybe I'll be going crazy soon; but for now it's "chevere".

Here is an entry in my journal from the first night:

       "I left a spacious 8 bedroom mansion with 12 single roommates and came to a cozy 3 bedroom apartment up a flight of stairs with a warm mother, father, & 3 kids just my age.  I had experienced moments of the occasional slips in vocabulary or grammar, but now it's an exciting moment when I get an occasional full sentence out correctly.  My car at my leisure to 80 cents for bus rides...this is going to be a sweet experience!

       One concern I had was not being able to be funny for a while since I knew my spanish is rough (I know--my concerns are deep and somewhat disconcerting), but this fear was alleviated my very first night.  Though there were a few moments that passed because I was looking up words in the dictionary, I found that I know enough to throw out my typical Sam sass and get laughs from the whole family.  It is a great feeling when you can't even speak the language completely, but the little you know combined with your wit is enough to make the family you just met laugh and laugh.

       Last night as I drove to drop off my car before I went to the airport, it hit me "I'm going to be all alone...I'm not going to know a soul.  My phone is gone and it's just my spunky little self and God..."  Let me tell ya--that thought got me SO excited!  My heart filled with courage and I said out loud "Alright!  It's you and me God.  I'm really doing this, but it's just me and you!"  All the calmness washed away and I was drenched in the most electrifying current of anticipation for a new adventure!"

My sweet new casa:

My cute little room.  It's sweet because it's super easy for me to keep clean!

Andrés Felipe, Maria Eugenia, & myself on the stair with the family dogs.  I normally don't like small dogs, but the one I am holding is pregnant, so she's way chill.  I miss pets!

The Martinez Family:

Me, Jhonatan, Luz Marina, Alfonso, Andrés Felipe, & Maria Eugenia

(This week President Martinez walked in the door one day and called me Samantha Maria.  It stuck and now that is how I introduce myself.)

On Monday Hermana Martinez brought me to a different section of town for a little bit of history, fine dining, and shopping.

This was my first restaurant experience...I was pretty excited!

       Since we're on the topic of food I snapped a couple other pictures.  I have loved everything I have eaten so far.  (Arepas & Avena are my favorite!)

Hermana Martinez is a great cook and breakfast is always hot food because it's so cold in the morning.  (It's usually 46-64 degrees here...that might not seem cold to you, but remember--I'm a pansy.)

After the temple one day we went to Hermana Martinez' uncles home.  His wife gave ma so much food!  It might not look like it, but that is easily 2-3 times more then I eat!  That beautifully formed pile of rice & meat was over 2-3 inches tall.  Before we left she fed us two more times!  (Thankfully they were much smaller portions.)

One of my favorite things here is that everyone I have seen cook (whether they have a lot of money or a little) cook in these tin pitchers: hot chocolate, potatoes, meat, rice...they are sweet!

Day 4 inspired me to write the following:

A COUPLE THINGS I'VE LEARNED:
-In the desert at Anasazi I used rocks for toilet paper, in Colombia my toilet paper smells like flowers because you don't flush it.
-To be dehydrated when I go out.  At Anasazi I was taught to be hydrated ALL the time, and it was ok because the whole world (well with a certain distance from water and camp) was my bathroom.  Here I have to pay to use the bathroom and I get sweet little packets of toilet paper with puppy dog prints that also smell like flowers:

SOMETHING I'LL BE DOING DIFFERENT:
-I might have a new record for not shaving my legs.  I have gone a month before on a dare, I might hit 2 1/2 months while I am here.  I thought I took quick showers before, but I'm mastering the 3-5 min shower (which is not easy with long hair!)

A COUPLE THINGS I NOW UNDERSTAND:
-Why missionaries sometimes have a difficult time when they get home speaking their native language. (I have been trying so hard to think in spanish that by day three each time I wrote my parents I have to go slow because I keep trying to write in spanish).
-Why people wear long underwear.  Living off the Golf of Mexico and in Arizona my whole life I didn't know the joy of long underwear!

I am so grateful for a temple so close to my house in Mesa!  It took us almost 2 hours on a packed bus to get to the temple in Bogotá.  Having learned the ordinances in spanish when I served in the Mesa temple is really paying off here!

Believe it or not my room is always clean...it's amazing what having time can do!  But this little guy is always on my nightstand.  My little luck charm, complements of Miss Aly Herred. (and yes, I know that is spelt wrong, but I like it better that way ;) ) 

This is the street I live on, and this is me running.  I am not in the shape I used to be, but this is my weekly Jog for Jamie in action:

A FEW MORE FUNNY THINGS:
       I  have been here for over a week and I am never offered water.  I knew that water is less commonly drunk in South America, but I didn't know it was NEVER.  For breakfast it is always hot chocolate, for lunch it is fresh pressed juice (which I LOVE), & for dinner it is either juice or soda of some sort...and sometimes hot chocolate.
       I have to make sure I take the right amount because I know I must always clean my plate.  Even though I take smaller portions, I still get fed a lot and so I have been exercising in my room daily so I will still be recognized when I get home and don't get swallowed by SamanthaMaria.  (Today The family put all the food by me and were teasing me to eat more, so I asked them "Why do you not want me to return to the states skinny?!" and they all laughed.  I said it wasn't a laughing matter for me & my future husband, and then we all laughed.)
       Friday was the first time that I didn't clean my plate, for lunch or dinner.  I just can't eat this much!  I don't know how missionaries do it!  I think the reason I couldn't eat all of my lunch was because I had a big plate of food AND a big bowl of lintels!  If only the young walkers on the trail could have seen my face when I saw these lentils!  I was SO excited.  And I gobbled them up; but if you've eaten lentils before then you know how filling they are!

Saturday I went to an institute activity and learned how to salsa dance better.  Here is Andrés and I all dolled up to go.  I am sporting my first pair of skinny jeans.  In a truly girly moment I broke down and bought 2 pairs 'because I needed them to go with my new boots'!

FUNNIEST STORIES OF THE WEEK:
       There have been some pretty funny moments with the family, but one of the best happened Friday morning.  I was talking with Hermana Martinez after breakfast and we were talking about the wash.  I said that I needed to buy some 'calcetines' (socks) because I had only brought two pair.  (It's important to note that I had been here for 7 days by this point.)  The conversation moved on and then got brought back up, and I said I just didn't think about bring more because I don't wear them often in Arizona.  This is when I found out that in Colombia 'celcetas' means underwear and they call socks 'medias'!  So she thought I only had two pairs of underwear, and it had been a week, and I hadn't done my wash yet!  We had a good laugh over that one.
       Tuesday was one of the best moments I've had of saying the wrong thing.  President Martinez asked me to pray (which I had done with the family several times already)--very basic prayers, but they work.  Well this time I was giving thanks for the safety we had that day, for the gospel, & for the food.  I went to bless the food...but I could not remember the word "bless, so I said "por favor puede que este comida que esta bien"--which is a very crude way of saying "please you(God) could that this food to be ok."  I said it fast because I didn't want to wait to think of the correct way to say it.  So I ended the prayer and President Martinez bursts out laughing and says "bendice" (the word 'bless'). We all had a hard laugh over my sad attempt to bless the food.  It was particularly funny because that day they had all been commenting on my spanish having improved greatly since I got here.

       I have already learned so much and I am loving my experience!  The family is so kind and very funny; it's been a pleasure living with them.  We'll see how busy I get, but I'm really trying to keep things chill so there should be a post each week.

Blog Backup

I started writing a Christmas letter for the first time this year to send to all my family and friends, and after multiple edits and still not getting it under two pages I realized it was best I just update my blog so those who are interested can come enjoy my comical/amazing life as they please. I say comical because I find myself quite comical...I crack myself up constantly, also I happen upon some very comical situations quite frequently. I say amazing not because I think I am so amazing, but because I truly have the most amazing things happen to me and I am surrounded by some of the most amazing people this world holds.

Total Sam Story!

When I got in my car accident 2 years ago and totaled poor Johnny I had to buy a replacement car fast. I got a beater that was running well, and didn't plan on keeping it this long. When I brought it to the mechanic over a smaller issue I asked them about some other problems I had been noticing, and half a day later they came back with a report of about $2500 worth of major issues (which I had a feeling were going on). From shot struts to warped drum brakes to some lightbulbs being out, I was not going to dump that much money into a 20 year old, 225,000 mile piece of work. I set to looking for a new car but after a couple of weeks got tired of looking at peoples "looks like new" dump cars that clearly had problems written all over them. I stopped for a few months, and then grew concerned of stranding myself somewhere in my car I started the search again. After a couple of weeks I got frustrated again, but called my dad for assistance. Within hours he e-mailed me a list of cars and the second one on the list I bought a day later. The following day I went out of down for four days, and then came home and worked from 6 AM to 7 PM, only getting home around 10. The next morning I thought I really needed to get my other car put on Craigslist, and even though I hadn't had the time to clean it out or wash or vacuum it I thought I would get those things down over the next weekend. The next night I checked my e-mail and to my surprise I had over 15 e-mails, 3 from the same guy. It was too late to call him back, so I called the next day. Long story short he came over, drove it with me, and offered me cash.

Lets look at a picture:

It was dark, so you couldn't tell the outside of the car was unwashed, but the inside was pretty bad. Between camping, hiking, and watching two little boys who are a mess, it gets pretty trashed. Add this to not having vacuumed it in a good year or so (maybe it was more recent...but not much more recent). Dust and dirt everywhere he wanted to buy it. I walked in the house with two arms full of empty water bottles that were stashed under my seats and my roommate Allison busted up. It took at least another trip like that! I had my emergency stuff in the trunk still. And I hadn't even notarized the title!

First person, 2 days after the post, 20 year old car, 225,000 miles, unnotarized title, dirty outside, messy inside...only Sam can/would sell a car like that! Haha

I love how comical my life is!

San Diego

I have a pretty small family (3 kids in my fam, dad has a brother with 3 kids, mom has two brothers with 2 kids each, and a sister with 9 kids), despite our few numbers somehow we managed sprawl across the whole US...seriously we are coast to coast, top to bottom. This made getting to know my cousins more difficult, but with dedicated parents it was still possible. The cousins we were closest with were my mom's sisters kids because they lived the closest...and, well, sisters stick together more. I have many fond memories of Aunt Beth and Uncle Jeff and their children, but keeping up with them all now is a challenge. My cousin Mary and her Husband, Ehren, live in San Diego. After Mary came to Phoenix a couple of times for business I finally got my act together and took them up on their offer to go visit them.

I have always loved Mary, and it was great fun getting to laugh about times past. I had only met Ehren once before, but was impressed by how fun loving he was. We all had Columbus day off, so I took the opportunity to go over. The whole trip was a delight! I enjoyed great conversations with them, they fed me some wonderful dishes, and we had a lot of laughs together. I love watching people interact, and I was so impressed by Mary and Ehren's relationship. I appreciated the excellent example they were to me of a strong and good marriage. Mary is due in January and I kept thinking about what a lucky baby he will be because he will have wonderful parents.

On Monday we went to Lego land, the first time for all of us. You might think that these places are only fun to bring children to...but they are actually more fun if you go with friends who are still like children...we all fit the bill for this! If only we could have captured the look on Ehren's face when he saw Darth Vader made out of small legos, priceless!

I couldn't help but to kiss this Italian pizza man with a sailors tattoo on his bicep and chest hair curling out of his wife-beater.

They even had chia pets! If you have not been to Lego land this alone might make it worth going.

Lego land also has rides, we could not resist the potato sack ride, and so Ehren, their friend, and I all set out to see who was fastest.

I was determined, despite my being small, to win the race...

...and determination here pays off!

Me, Mary, and Ehren.

Me making a wish with the witch at the wishing well.

I was in a sharks mouth! (Don't worry, no sharks were harmed in this construction of the lego shark.)

Ehren and I the morning I left. I love their hats!

Classy Party

I have some pretty awesome friends, it's true. They always come up with some pretty great ideas, and my old roommate, Amanda Kvavle's, idea was no exception. We had been talking about old movies and discovered we both love Doris Day. This spawned the idea to have a classy party. Plans were made, the date was set, and classiness resulted.

While the boys were off at the Priesthood session of General Conference we got all dolled up in the most hip 40's era dresses, shawls, shoes, hats, and other accessories. Down to Kiwanis Park we went with our croquette set and chilled bottles of IBC cream soda...very classy, I know.

Amanda, Allison, and I posing before the game.

(note the blue sky with a few white clouds)

Allison starting us off.

Amanda was the most classy with her white gloves.

Me being a poser as usual.

Al doing a better job at posing then me.

Al and me making a cheers for a friendly but competitive game...which I won.

Me, Amanda, and Allison looking very classy with our croquette clubs under an awesome, late season monsoon sky.

During the game an awesome storm started forming and by the end of our game the sky looked incredible!

After a very classy dinner party the boys came over to watch Glass Bottom Boat featuring Ms. Doris Day, CLASSIC and classy, making it an essential part of our evening. Amanda brought old school, individual popcorn boxes--they were sweet! Side note: if you have never added Hot Tamales to your freshly popped butter popcorn you are missing out!