Crafty Tutorial

Here's a little tutorial for the blocks, if anyone else wants to make them. I think they turned out really cute. I especially like that you can stack them however you want. They would look really cute on a mantlepiece, or in a nursery, or (feel free to laugh) as a really cute Relief Society centerpiece.

Supplies:

Vinyl Lettering-I'm not sure who mine was ordered from, but look here, here and here.

Acrylic paint

Some cute scrapbook paper-It doesn't take much, I used two half sheets.

Ink or chalk pad

Sand paper

3 1/2 inch blocks-I used six.

A bottle of matte Mod Podge

First, I sanded all the blocks to smooth off the rough parts. Then I painted all of them with a coat of acrylic paint. Then I sanded the edges again and went around them with an ink pad to make them look more distressed. Some people used a chalk pad, and it looked pretty neat too. Next, I applied the vinyl letters to the blocks. Three of my blocks only have lettering on two sides, and three have lettering on three sides because I wanted to use every Be. Then I cut my scrapbook paper into 3" squares, covered the back of the paper squares with a coat of Mod Podge and stuck them on. Then I went over all sides of the blocks with a couple of coats of Mod Podge.

It's really easy, but takes a little time to get everything sanded and painted. I really love mine. So much, that when I get home, I'm going to try making some alphabet blocks like these, only with letters instead of scary skulls.

There is life in the desert!

It's just not that exciting. I know you have all been anxiously awaiting a new blog post from me and were terrified that I had been stung by a scorpion, got heat stroke and swine flu, and died of thirst in the desert. Well, none of those things have happened. And not much else has happened either.

Someday I hope to put up some pictures of the middle-of-nowhere, wild west town I'm living in. Until then, I hope you enjoy the few pictures I have managed to take. The first one is where I spend 3 mornings a week. The detention center. Isn't it a happy place? No plants. Deathly hot (it was 115 degrees outside when I went to church today). Just lots of dirt and barbed wire out in the middle of nowhere. There are over 1500 people housed in this center, with just two attorneys and a couple of interns from the Florence Project to try to help all the pro se people (the vast majority), so work keeps me really busy.


And everywhere I go, there are subtle reminders of home. It's a good thing I'm so busy at work because I know I'd be horribly homesick every single day if I weren't so busy. I especially miss the mountains when I think it's cool outside, and it turns out to be 98 degrees. Yes, it's basically always triple degree heat, so under 100 is cool. I pass this sign every time I drive out to the detention center, and it makes me tear up every time.


Fortunately, I get to go home for a few days soon, and the ward here has been really great. One thing that I really love about the church is that it is the same wherever you go, so going to church always makes me feel at home. I loved my ward in Costa Rica, and I love my ward here, too. They've been so friendly. The bishop invited me over to play games with his family one night, the Relief Society presidency paid me a visit, and I made the cutest blocks at Enrichment Night. Check out my beautiful Be Blocks!


The weekends here are pretty slow, and I'm not too eager to go hiking in triple degree heat with my crazy roomates. But I've had a good time hanging out with friends, going shopping, and being crafty. I've gotten quite a bit of knitting done, and since my Be Blocks turned out so well, I decided to try another project. I've got a double baby shower coming up for two of my fellow classmates. One just had a boy, and the other is expecting a girl. These are the fancy schmancy frames I made for them. Aren't they cute?


After my trip to Salt Lake for the 4th of July, I will only have 4 more weeks left. Hopefully I can come up with enough fun things to do to make it to the end. The weekdays go by super fast, but the weekends are so slow. I'm getting so much great experience this summer, and I love my work, but I'm really glad this is my last summer. I miss you all and can't wait to see you!

Greetings from Florence!

Arizona, not Italy. Over the weekend, Garrett and I drove down to Arizona, so I could start my internship with the Florence Project. All together, it was about a 12 hour drive. Here is a picture of Garrett in his new PT Cruiser (which I'll be driving now in Arizona) just before we left our apartment in the village.


We took Highway 89 pretty much the entire way, and it was definitely the scenic route. Not only was it more direct than taking the interstate, it was more entertaining too. Here's a funny sign we saw on the way down. After laughing forever, Garrett promised he would never refer to anything I cooked as "ho-made."


After traveling for eight hours, we stopped at Little America in Flagstaff. It was about 8 o'clock at night, we had gotten lost on our way there, and we were EXHAUSTED. The hotel was great. We got plenty of rest and relaxation before we had to hit the road again. I was pretty sad when I had to finally drop Garrett off at the airport in Phoenix and finish the rest of the drive on my own. So sad that I wasn't paying attention and missed my exit twice before getting it right. But I made it to the office, got a key to the duplex I'll be living in, and got settled in. Here is the duplex:


I'm in side A. As you can see, it is SUPER HOT and dry. When we left Salt Lake, it was about 60 degrees outside. Right now it's about 96. The landscape here is all desert, including some really tall cacti. Here's the lovely side yard:


The duplex is pretty big. It kind of reminds me of going up to my family's property because it has left-behind movies, books, furniture, food and cooking appliances. Here are both sides of the living room:



And the kitchen:


It's a two-bedroom duplex, so there will be plenty of room for the two other girls who will be living here with me. Here is a picture of my room:


I have a closet, dresser and plenty of space for my yoga mat. Now if I only had Garrett... I guess someone has to stay home and pay the bills, but I sure do miss him! I hope you are all having a great time and enjoying the cool weather. I'll work on boosting my heat tolerance posting on all my fun adventures. See you soon!

A Yucky Story and A Happy Ending, or A Tale of Two Gallons of Milk

Last Saturday Garrett and I bought two gallons of milk at Costco. This purchase was a rare event for us because we haven't had our Costco card for very long, and I kind of dread spending $50 on just three or four items. Plus their carts are enormous, and look even more enormous with just my 3 or 4 items, and in my weird grocery store mindset, having a bare cart makes me feel somewhat lacking. That's why I love the little double decker carts at Winegar's and Smith's. They're just the right size for my groceries. But Garrett and I alone can go through two gallons of milk and beat the expiration date with time to spare. I think if they had an Olympic event for doubles milk chugging, that we would be gold medalists. Anyway, we bought the milk, brought it home and stuck it in the fridge.

We're not really sure when the fridge stopped working. We probably should have noticed because it started to smell pretty funky. It must have been at least a few days ago. It could have been even longer. We use so many things out of the freezer, which was still working, that I think we just never noticed. Then, on Wednesday, I had a terrible migraine, so Garrett volunteered to make my breakfast shake for me. When I started drinking the shake, it tasted kind of funny. I asked Garrett if he had done anything different to the shake, if he had used the same amount of milk, and if the milk was okay. He said that everything was the same as usual and the milk was fine. So I drank the shake. Later I found out that Garrett had also made himself a bowl of cereal, but the milk tasted funny so he threw it away.

That afternoon I opened the fridge to pour myself a glass of milk, and much to my surprise and dismay, both gallons were curdled! Gross! I immediately called Garrett. Having little experience with curdled milk, Garrett explained to me that he thought the milk was frozen, even though it didn't feel frozen, and that's why he fed it to me. In fact, everything in the fridge felt really warm.

So the long and short of it is that we had to throw out a bunch groceries, and maintenance brought us a brand new fridge. My favorite part is that it is completely smell free. I hate weird fridge smells. Anyway, Garrett thought this story was particularly hilarious and blogworthy, so even though it still makes my stomach churn, I thought I'd throw it up here for you to enjoy.

Good times...

Just so you don't think that Garrett and I spend all our time working and studying, here are some pictures of the things we've been up to lately.


Easter was a lot of fun. We took Lanna to an Easter egg hunt at our aunt's care center. Lanna loved getting her face painted and gathering Easter eggs, but I had to practically force her to stand in front of the Easter bunny while I snapped a picture. The best part about Easter is that the Easter bunny still leaves us goodies at my mom's house, so every Easter we eat breakfast at Mom's house. We also chow down on chocolate and lots of deviled eggs from the hardboiled eggs we color the night before. Yum!


Every so often, Lanna and I have been having a girls' night out at Kangaroo Zoo. It's especially fun when Lanna can bring a friend. You can see how rosy her cheeks get after just a few minutes. She likes to see how fast she can tackle the obstacle course and go down the slides.


Today I just made some yummy bruschetta with fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, fresh tomatoes and fresh roasted garlic bread. We've been eating more fresh herbs since I got my Rachael Ray Furi Froggy. This is definitely one of my new favorite things. Tonight for dinner we'll be having salmon with fresh dill. I love it!

Even though we do spend most of our time studying or working, we love hanging out with Lanna, celebrating holidays with family and being creative with dinner. That's what makes our free time fun.

It's Official!

Last year around this time, I announced my plans to spend the summer in Costa Rica. This summer is not nearly as exotic, but it's official! This year I'll be spending the summer in... drum roll please... Florence, Arizona! There will be no monkeys, no rainforest and probably no rain.

When my mom mentioned to my great-aunt and uncle that I may be spending the summer in Florence, they said, "Oh, by the prison!" That is correct, Florence is by the prison, but is also by the detention center. As many of you know, I have been doing a lot of work in immigration over the past year, and this summer will be my baptism by fire interning at the Florence Project. Here is an excerpt from their website explaining what they do:

The Florence Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal service organization providing free legal services to men, women, and unaccompanied children detained by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) division of the Department of Homeland Security in Arizona. Although the government assists indigent criminal defendants and civil litigants through public defenders and legal aid attorneys, it does not provide attorneys for people in immigration removal proceedings. As a result, an estimated 90 percent of the detained people go unrepresented due to poverty. The Florence Project strives to address this inequity both locally and nationally through direct service, partnerships with the community, and advocacy and outreach efforts.

I'm really excited for this opportunity to use my Spanish and gain great legal experience in a field that I find fascinating. I'll be down there for 10 weeks all together, however I will be returning home for a couple weekends to visit family. Now I'll have to spend my time in between studying and working at my current internship shopping for some scorching desert-heat work appropriate apparel. Wish me luck!

Birthday Adventures

This month I turned the ripe old age of 25, and it was great! I actually feel really lucky because it feels like my birthday has practically lasted all month. It started with our fun dinner out with my grandma at the Cheesecake Factory and ended this last Sunday with a family celebration at my grandparents' house.

On the actual day, Garrett took me out to dinner at Red Lobster. I LOVE seafood! Every time I've been to an aquarium, there are just certain critters that I would really love to eat. I don't know if those giant lobsters they have at the aquarium actually taste good, but they make my mouth water. And Red Lobster was perfect to satisfy my sea-tooth. Plus they have the best biscuits. I think Garrett kept getting more so we could take some home with us. I had lobster and crab and shrimp, and it was really wonderful!

Also that weekend, we went out to dinner with my dad at Japanese Tepanyaki. It was also really great. I ordered the (surprise!) salmon. The chef was so entertaining. I was really glad that we went because there used to be a Japanese Tepanyaki in Bountiful that we loved to go to, but it burned down a few years ago. This restaurant was just as fun, and it was especially fun to go with Lanna now that she's old enough to enjoy it.

I also had great family parties with my family and Garrett's family. It was so much fun, and everyone was so thoughtful. Now I'm excited to use my birthday money on my first set of golf clubs! Mom and I took a class last fall, and we're excited to hit the links this summer.

Thanks everybody for your great birthday wishes!