HOME SWEET HOME

I AM HOME!!

I cant believe that I am back in Utah. I was welcomed home safely with lots of cold snow! A little bit different than Monterrey, Mexico. It is definately a mixture of emotions! Exciting and wonderful to see my family and friends. They are the best! And really sad becasue I MISS you guys in Mexico SOO much already. Thanks for the great friendships we made and impact you have had in my life. Weird because I no longer get food that is too spicy, but instead it hardly has flavor.....haha. I went out to eat and had to ask the workers (that are Mexican) if i could borrow some of thier salsa to put on my pork salad. The next day I got a hamburger with Jalepanos and pepperjack cheese. Also weird because I miss hearing Spanish and struggling with my American accent to speak it. At the vegas airport i met a boy from Chile and he thought it was way cool that I could speak spanish haha.

I had a safe trip home- THANKS to all those who helped me, I seriously couldnt have done it without you- Marce for the suitcase, Juan Carlos for the ride to the airport, Pablo for all your help and support, mom for the thank you cards, dad for the money :), Jordan for redirecting me at the airport so I didnt miss my flight becuase it changed from portal 7 to 1 and I didnt know, Justin- guy i met in the shuttle from vegas to st george for keeping me company, good conversation and buying me something from the candy machine when i realized the only change i had was pesos haha, Sally and Lacee for pickng me up! and having a fun night sledding in the fresh snow on my first night, Jessica for having such cute kids, you are the best little mom and my new nephew Carson is ADORABLE! and tinyMelinda for spraying confetti and being so excited to see me!!, Jackson and Mikell for deciding that afterall they do like me after a few hours of getting to know me again, David for the welcome home sign, Sab for going to lunch, Marcus for wanting me to lay with you, everyone for listening to my looonnng detailed stories that I know you love, and everyone else for everything- thanks i love you. I am glad I made it safely. I had the BEST experience in Mexico and I think that everyone should do study abroad or at least experience living in a different country or culture. Its so great. My testimony was strengthened more than words can express, lifelong friendships were formed with friends from ALL over the world, I got a head start on my career at MIC- the best marketing company, improvement on my Spanish and SOO much more!!

Spicy hot tacos

As if putting salsa isnt enough- one little taco stand decided to bathe the tacos in salsa. My awesome friends thought my time here at Mexico wouldnt be complete unless I tried them before I left. So today at lunch we had tacos bathed in salsa. They werent too spicy but after I finished all 5- my mouth was on fire. Look at how much salsa-

I really do love Mexican food! I had the busiest day at work today and it was so great to get a lot done. If you wanna check out our webpage its finally up in English http://www.mic.com.mx/.

more celebrations

Happy Birthday Ezra! At family home evening we celebrated his birthday and ate really good food, like always. Mexican food is delicious.

Work Christmas Party

We had our Posada (Christmas party) for MIC. I love my job, I work for the best company in the world! I love everyone that works here. On Friday we stayed at a beautiful cabin. We ate good food and played games ALL night. It was one of the funnest days I've had here. I will miss my job, but continue working with them from United States. Vero, Gaby, Marce, Cristy, me, Dani, Vicky

The traditional piñata Games Galore

We were all so competitve and it was a blast!

Friends forever and ever!!

Ulises and Felipe

Goodbyes

I love Monterrey and cant believe it is already time to come home. I feel very bitter sweet becasue yes Im excited to see my family, be home for christmas and see all my friends.......but I have made great memories here and learned a ton. I will miss a lot of things in Monterrey.

I wont miss walking to school everyday.

We had a really nice brunch the other day with all the women from my ward. It was soo delicious! I need to get the recepies! I will miss my ward.

I guess i just need to remember my favorite quote: "Dont cry because its over, smile because it happened!"

Winter Wonderland

Miia and I finally went ice skating, I think its funny that we went here in Mexico because there is snow in Utah and Finland, but we wanted to share something wintery together since we both love snowboarding, skiing, and ice skating and winter. They do ice skating, skiing and hockey as a normal sports in their PE classes in Finland- how cool!

We had fun at the mall eating, ice skating, shopping and seeing all the christmas decorations!

Saying bye to Miia was probably the hardest thing ever! I am so glad we met and I LOVE her so much! She is one of my best friends and Im thankful for her and our friendship. I will miss her but we will stay in touch! Thanks Miia!! I love you!

semesters over

I just have to say that I hate B+'s. I hate when you have 89 percent. I mean I am soo close to an A- and would much rather get an A-. Cant teachers just give you the .03 percent that you are away from an A. I mean, technically its not the teachers fault, because thats what you earned. But still I hate being so close, yet not getting it. With that being said I think overall I did pretty well this semester. I got 3 A's and 2 B+s. I liked my classes and learned a lot! I love Mexico and will miss it a ton! I really liked my Spanish communication, consumer behavior and rock climbing class (thus the reason I got A's in them- they were enjoyable). and i didnt really like my International business or spanish grammar classes or teachers. but Oh well. It was such a fun semester! Seriously if anyone is even remotely thinking that they wanna do study abroad DO IT!! Its the best experience.

Im an AUNT again!

Congrats to Scott and Jessica! Their baby boy, Carson Dee Doman, has arrived! On December 3rd. Healty and happy little baby. I am so excited to see him!

Jackson is excited to have a baby brother!!

its beginning to look a lot like CHRISTMAS

No we dont have snow. But everyone is putting up christmas lights and decorations, and all the main streets. Last night we made Gingerbread Houses with a couple American Families from my ward. It was so fun. This is my gingerbread house-

Decorating with love

Our gingerbread village! The twins were the best- Ryan even made shingles out of Cinnamon toast cereal and a sleigh. Celests was a mexican christmas with green grass. Mine had a snowman. they were all so creative!

BUNGEE and Cola de Caballos

I went...3...2...1... Bungee! Yes you guessed it Bungee Jumping!! If you like falling, head first 230 feet into a valley of trees, that takes your breath away, then get bounced back up before hitting the ground and dangle around for a few minutes with blood rushing to your head then bungee jumping is for you! Miia and I went to Cola de Caballos and it was so fun! First we did bungee then we hiked up to a beautiful waterfall. Freakin scary but awesome! I loved it. I screamed a lot!!!!

Im a Professional Marketing Executive

Look at me.....I am professional!!!

AHH. I got my first business card and its pretty exciting. I LOVE my job and I hope to work with MIC again when I graduate from SUU. Im getting old and going to have to solve problems and have a real career. Make big decisions. How exciting!

Parties

Saying goodbye is so sad. On Thursday after dinner and resting we had a party at the Germans house and it was way fun...but I fogot to take pictures. Friday we had a party at Casa Azul and it was fun- I am so glad I came to Monterrey! I love my friends. After the party I to a fun place where there was a live band and we danced and hung out! So fun!

Thanksgiving time fun

I loved Thanksgiving! We had a nice dinner and everyone brought really good food! It was nice sharing our traditions with each other from all over the United States. I love my friends!!
Mike was a great turkey cutter! haha and Brandon and Booth are great Chefs. It was the best dinner I think I've had since I got here. (American Dinner) Jordan, Katie, Holly, John

Jordan, Ronack, Brandon

Mike, Booth, Alex

I sure will miss my friends. But i like to think better- now i just have a million places to stay and visit when I travel!

Im glad ice cream makes Brandon happy.

My cupcakes turned out wonderful so thank you for the comments, I was feeling crafty after but...I have a confession to make. The picture i put up was from the internet- these are mine:

Mr. Turkey Cupcake

Thankful

I'm thankful for...

Family- thanks for all your emails, support and encouragement. I wish I could be home today and spend it with you guys but I love monterrey too. Have a fun day. Im excited to see you guys in less than one month.

Friends- "Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave and impossible to forget." I love all my friends from SUU and miss you guys like crazy. Im excited for next semester. I LOVE all the friends I have made here and seriously hope we stay in touch and maybe visit. I love my BFFs from T-ville and I couldnt live without you guys in my life.

Gospel- I love the church and I know its true! I am thankful for our savior! Im thankful for great ward members. Sister Cotrell has helped me soo much even since before I came to Monterrey- so Im thankful for her. Im thankful for institute! Im thankful for the best friends I have made there. Im thankful for my visiting teachers. Im thankful for family home evening. Im thankful for the temple! Im thankful for missionaries.

Mexico- Im soo glad I came here! I love it tons and I have learned so much! I love spanish and I want to continue studying it. I am thankful for my internship at MIC and all the people I work with there. I am thankful for all the exchange students- tonight we are doing thanksgiving dinner at brandon and booths house and I made turkey cupcakes- Im thankful for you!! Yes you! Love you! Have a great day and remember to be thankful!

Chipinque

I love the mountains!! Me, Miia, Felipe and Rosa went on a little hike up the canyon and it was so beautiful!

We took a bus to get there and entertained ourselves with this little pipe cleaner for quite some time. haha. and learned how to whistle! pretty sure the bus driver wanted to kill us. best friends!

Pumped at sign number 1.

still excited.

A million stairs.
about to die!! haha but almost to the top

and we made it! by the time we got to the top it was night but it was so beautiful seeing all of Monterrey! I sure will miss this city

We had a picnic and hung out. It was lots of fun! Then we went to Miia's house and played games.