He's the one

Preston Young Alexander is the one. I don't know how I got so lucky. I feel like saying every cheesy line from all the greatest chick flicks but I'll try to refrain and instead inform you on why you should be absolutely jealous of me.

First how we met. On fall day at a University of Utah football game Preston came up to me and asked if I was from Seattle. Very creepy, but since he's cute, it was cute. I noticed his red hair and asked if he was an Alexander. We chatted and exchanged numbers. He played on my intramural soccer team that fall and took me on a date or two. I remember that I wanted him to ask me out more but he didn't. I was occupied with going on a mission so I didn't beg. When I came home from my mission, he messaged me on Facebook to play on his imaginary intramural soccer team, but I never respond. Then I saw him at the institute and I quickly apologized for not responding and we chated. I then ran into him on the way to class and made sure he had my number. 

I knew he was something else when....

 he came over to tie dye with me and I had such a good time I had no desire to call another guy for, what I call "after date." 

He called me and left a message asking me on a date. He actually used the word "date."

I knew I couldn't let him get away when...

We went to the Christmas devotional without tickets. He kept me calm and found us tickets.

He drove my car back from Provo. He was speeding and I asked him to slow down and he said "you're right" and then slowed down

I thought I loved him when... 

We talked about going steady and I quickly agreed after a realized how much he really cared about me and not about what I looked like in yoga pants. 

When he took me skiing and patiently guided me down the mountain

I knew I loved him when...

we were studying in the  library and he said "Hannah, I just really really like you."

 and then when he waited to tell me he loved me until it was the perfect time and story

Dinner Parties

Dinner Parties:

Here my wonderful roommate, Co-chair of the FHE committee with me and visiting teaching companion, Sisi, and I stand outside our apartment. It's a great little place near the University. We don't see eachother much but when we do we enjoy talking about our missions and relating them to dating. We moved in this fall knowing nothing about each other and it has been quite a blessing. We get along great. We have the same morals and standards and respect eachothers space and things. Our apartment is a peaceful, loving place to be even though we aren't nice, just kind. We are both outgoing and motivated people, except she is a business major and I'm and exercise sport science major. We balance each other well.

a perfect example of us is this conversation we had a few weeks ago:

Me: "Sisi, I got my body composition measured today and I'm super upset about the results"

Sisi: "what's that?..."

Me: explanation

Sisi: "oh I would have never thought to do that."

conversation continues and changes

Sisi "you dont know your credit score!!!"

Me "no, why would I check that..."

Anyways, we love to throw dinner parties. I do the cooking and she does the ice breaking and entertainment.

 the first one was and noqui failure...

 a big hit. we had some sort of pasta.

 another sort of pasta

 

this was actually breakfast for Jocelyn on the day of her baptism

My half birthday.

Sisi's birthday dinner

we made pizza and it was tasty

the girls we visit teach and hawaiian haystacks

sunday family dinner

Dating Basics from a First Date Master

Don't take it personally. Dating is rough don’t take is so personal. Think of it like shopping. If you don't like the shirt you don't buy it. That doesn't mean there is anything wrong with the shirt, it just means it will go better on some else. You are the shirt. He is the one shopping and you're that one being picked therefore this post won't be about the girl on the hunt because face it girl you aren’t. It’s about how to work it and get those dates.

Getting his attention.

It’s simple. Be approachable but a challenge. SMILE. Gosh dang it girl, smile. No one wants to come up to a grumpy puss and talk. To get his attention be confident and make eye contact. For example if you’re on one side of the room and he is on the other and then when he looks your way, look back, smile just a little and hold it for just long enough to be a little uncomfortable or better said, so it’s clear that it wasn't just a glance. Maybe you need to do this a few times for him to get the hint. Guys do not want to come up to you and all your self-absorbed girlfriends just so you can make fun of them in your freakish telepathic ways. Stop thinking you're so tricky with your girlfriends. We all know you're cruel ways. The point is; don't hide behind your friends and sour face.

The First Moments.

When he approaches you don’t make it hard on him. Be open and give him the attention he wants. Look at him in the eyes and continue with a pleasure face. As girls we have the tendency to prejudge.  Before he even opens his mouth, we have put him in “creepy” or “cute” categories. Stop it. Don’t categorize the poor guy until it’s warranted.  It is safe to assume that any guy that comes up to you, is interested in you in some form.  Don’t let that freak you out. Start by responding to what he says and, like before mentioned, smile. Be pleasant.  Then don’t expect him to carry the whole conversation. Don’t dominate it but talk about him. Don’t respond with short abrupt statements, for example “sure.” Go off what he says and start the conversation.  Little do you know but boys have feelings too and they don’t just want to hear about your life. They like to be listened to as well.

Quick tip. When he asks you a question; respond and then ask him a question. That’s what they call a conversation.

Make it Easy on Him.

As the conversation progresses make it easy for him to get to know you. This goes back to the instant prejudge. Stop it. Give him a chance. His and your goal should be to find common interests or fails to give him an easy way to ask you out. Now when you do find that common interest, talk to him about that subject and take it somewhere. For example, I like to do sporty things and therefore many of my conversations lead to one of the sporty or outdoors activities that we both like. Then I drop a hint that we should do it together sometime. For example: “I totally own that movie so if you ever want to watch it, I here for you.” “Man, I’ve never been rock climbing but I really want to try.” Or “I’ve heard that restaurant is super good, but I’ve never tried it.”  Now this gives him an opportunity to get your number but if he doesn’t, it at least gives you something to talk about next time you run into each other. So make sure something note worth is said to mention next time you talk for example “hey, have you been rock climbing recently?”  I’d say more likely than not he won't ask for your number on your first encounter but that’s no reason to get discouraged, just continue to be approachable and friendly.

So He Asks You Out.

It’s hard to ask a girl out so if he does don’t be a jerk about it. Be confident and respond quickly. Most guys don’t come out of nowhere to ask you out. You know when it’s coming, if you are paying attention so be prepared with your answer beforehand. Just in case you didn’t know there are two options: yes or no. 

Saying Yes.

Don’t you dare say “sure” or “yeah,” those are affirmative pansy answers. Man up girl, either you want to go or you don’t. Be enthusiastic so there is no doubt that he made the right choice in asking you. If you can’t go on the specific day, and you want to go then give him another option, for example if you can’t Tuesday suggest at least one or two other days within the next week you could go and continue in this trend until you find a time and day.

Saying No.

First I hope you have a good reason for saying no. This isn’t hard to do so I hope you can figure it out for yourself.

On the Date.

Be honest. There’s no reason to act like someone you’re not, unless you are a super crappy person and then you shouldn’t being going on dates until you figure that out anyways. Flirting is key and simple. Listen to him. Respond to his comments. Look at him in the eyes and smile.

Why Me?

Often times we ask yourself "why me?" when bad stuff happens in your life, but really we should ask yourself "why me? why am I so blessed?" It's a humbling thought. Everything I have been given just because. I made a list of the top fifty things I'm grateful for but here I will just share a few.

50. Ice cream
33. Internet
20. My jobs
17. My dad's job.
10. My good looks.
9. My parents and their examples of hard work and love of God
8. My siblings and their examples
7. My Grandparents and ancestors for their work that I am now able to live a comfortable middle class life
6. The Book of Mormon
5. My emotional state of being
4. My education (especially that I can go to college)
3. The restored gospel of Jesus Christ
2. Personal revelation and inspiration from a loving Heavenly Father that has led me to where I am now
1. The atonement of Jesus Christ and the ability I have to repent

But after I try to put a list together, I am reminded of what President Uchtdrof  "Perhaps focusing on what we are grateful for is the wrong approach. It is difficult to develop a spirit of gratitude if our thankfulness is only proportional to the number of blessings we can count. True, it is important to frequently “count our blessings”—and anyone who has tried this knows there are many—but I don’t believe the Lord expects us to be less thankful in times of trial than in times of abundance and ease. In fact, most of the scriptural references do not speak of gratitude for things but rather suggest an overall spirit or attitude of gratitude."


For Thanksgiving I went to my grandparents, and what started as a 5 person dinner turned into 17! So after a quick run to the store for another turkey everything worked out just fine. We all ate plenty and there was left overs. I started a little contention by wanting to take a family picture so I put the camera away. Here are a few pictures I did get:

His first cheese ball!

Fall Break

Not to brag but this post ends with me being a champion. My fall break this year was a trip out to the big capitol, Cheyenne Wyoming.

 It was the first time I drove so far alone.

 We went on a walk, to the mall play place, a park and even the grocery store.

 speaks for itself

 I'm not sure I'm cut out for motherhood but I've got the look down

 How autumn feels about me

 Girls hour! We got pedicures!

 On the way home I thought I filled up my car but it turns out I didn't. HOW EMBARRASSING! don't ask me  how because all I'm sure about is that the car stopped running and so I called roadside assistance and they put two gallons in my car to make it to the next gas station. That put me back an hour and therefore by some miracle I ran into work right at 5.

Next day I ran a half marathon with Derek!

 Before

 After

 I got second place!! and I'm very proud of it. My split time was 7:21 average which isn't bad for the first time.

My friend, Elder, (thats his name) wanted to go to church on Sunday. Since he  speaks spanish I went with him to the spanish ward. It was great! 

Long Time, No See

I'm back. I've been back for a while now, actually more than a transfer but less than the time it takes to forget how long a transfer is. I had quite the adventure getting back to the states, but lets start with the epic last week in the mission.

My last P-Day: I begged and pleaded with my mission president every week to go to Ushuaia, which is the last city in the world or the farthest south. The first time I asked I got a straight up "no"... but then the President's wife recommended that I go and suggested I call again. So I did. And then my companion did. And then my zone leaders. And then my sister coordinating leader. And finally for my last p-day he said yes. It was a pricey trip but worth it. I have never been to a more beautiful place! I won't even try to explain.

Hermana Estigarribia (my companion) Hermana Velasquez, Hermana Kuhn and I with our tour boat to see the famous last light house in the world.

 Last light house in the whole. This is REALLY cool, if you don't think it is just sit and reflex about your priorities in life.

 The famous sign, which was a strict requirement from president when he gave me permission.

 .... the closest I got to a penguin.... I know, its sad.

The last working day: I always imaged my last transfer full of miracles. I would have it all figured out and have like 10 baptisms... that didn't happen. The whole world seemed to be against me my last transfer, but thats besides the point. My last day in the mission should have been an amazing story but it turned out to be terribly average. I didn't put a baptismal date, we didn't find any new investigadors, I don't even think we did our mandatory 20 contacts, but what I did do was clean an old lady's kitchen and then we went home.

 

After almost our entire transfer together, Hermana Estiagarribia took off her walking boot. She was healed just in time for me to go home.

The Four day trip home:

Sunday morning I got on a bus from Rio Grande to Rio Gallegos (6 Hours). 

From Rio grande to Rio Gallegos you must cross the border of Chill and then back into Argentina. I got into Chill just fine but as I was trying to get back into Argentina I got caught. I guess I had not paid a fee that all American have to pay. At first I laughed and thought "haha they are just messing around trying to scare me." then they took my passport to a back room and 20 minutes later they were taking my suitcases off the bus. Luckily, by a miracle, an elder who had just been called to be the assistant was traveling with me. I was suppose to do this trip all by myself by just a day before they bought Elder Garrady a ticket too. He took his stuff out too and I went to a back room to enter my credit card number into a sketching computer. Due to the fact we were in the middle of no where the internet was super slow and every bus passed through customs. We were then strained at the border of Argentina and Chilli, until a nice worker asked Cesar to drive us to Rio gallegos.  I turned to Elder Garrady as we were getting in the strangers truck and said "this could turn out to be a really funny story or a really sad story." Cesar kindly dropped us off in Rio Gallegos after a pleasant first discussion. 

 In cesar's truck

 Safe in Rio Gallegos.
Sunday Night I bused from Rio Gallegos to Comodoro Riviadavia (the mission house) 10 hours
I spent all monday in Comodoro with Hermana Ross. We shopped. We went to Lunch with the president. We had our last interviews and dinner in the mission house.
Tuesday morning we flew from Comodoro to Bueno Aires.

 Me, President rogers, Hermana Rogers, Hermana Ross in the comodoro Airport.

 In the airplane leaving Comodoro. we have a similar picture just a year and a half before coming to Argentina.

We spent the afternoon in the Buenos Aires. We had just enough time to eat lunch and go through the temple in Buenos Aires. This is a capstone event. I felt the love and approval of God as I sat in the temple. I felt as though God was proud and had accepted my service. It was an amazing experience.

 Tuesday Afternoon I flew from Buenos Aires to Atlanta Georgia. (11 hours)
Wednesday Morning I flew from Atlanta to Seattle.
Where I was greeted by family and friends. The moment you dream of your whole mission. My mom almost killed my dad because he got to me first. Noah also surprised me by showing up!

 Home Sweet home. I liked to asked missionaries what the first thing they were going to do when they got home would be. When the question was returned I said "lay down on carpet"

 I had two coats. I left the decent one for a companion and the absolutely disgusting one I burnt on Hermanas Rogers request.

 The food I missed was my mom's homemade salad. I was counting down the day to a good salad.

And thats it. I'm home. My mission is now in the past. It all just a memory. The hardest and most rewarding year and a half of my life is over. I said I wouldn't change, but I did. Or I guess I didn't really. I still like hip hop and running. Ice cream is still my favorite food and I'm utah ute til I die. Now I'm just stronger in my faith. I know that Jesus is the Christ. He is my savior and my redeemer. He died and now lives so that we can all return to the Father. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God that restored the true gospel. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God because when I read it I feel closer to him. I give thanks to God every day for the opportunity I had to serve him and for the prompting, or individual revelation I received over two years ago to go on a mission. God loves me and knows me personally, like each of you.