Isn't this adorable?

I got an email from my sister mexicana!  I know I told you I was done being obsessed, but then I opened my email, and my obsession came right back.  

This is her, me, and a primo se llama Paco:

And this is the email:


hi!!! brittan I miss you much and all my family too.you are my sister favorite, sorry  I couldn´t write before because I had a lot  work and  yes,understand!!!!!my sister evelia told that when you come back a mexico you will have the same room. kisses SONRIE!!! I LOVE YOU BRITTAN

    
 
                                 3  L  V  I  S  

Do you see why I loved this life so much?  Man!  Everyone needs to have a Mexican fam so you can all know what I am going through.  This is awesome.

Fav line:  you are my sister favorite.

Ha.  Haha.  So cute.

Dirty Dash

We Mexican teachers decided to hold our one month reunion this past weekend at the Dirty Dash in Midway.  It was legit.

So, good news.  I think I am at least half way over my whole Mexican brain.  I mean, I'm still obsessed, and every time I hear it mentioned, my heart beat soars and my mind floats back to the good old days.  But I'm passed the stage of looking at my pics and watching my vids every single night.  I did that literally for the whole first month home.  So it's been like a week and a half since I got over it.  But anyway.

The reunion was totally fun.  We are all still friends and I'm pretty sure it will stay that way. They are really all so great and I love hanging out with them.  Sigh.  Good times.

Guess what.  I just went to Cafe Rio with my former roomies whose names I will now use outright, partially because I don't feel like clouding them over, and partially because I don't quite remember their fake ones.  So anyway, we went to Cafe Rio and the workers were speaking Spanish and I loved it.  Then we went to this little restaraunt from El Salvador, which basically equals Mexico.  It was exactly like a Mexican restaraunt and I loved every second of it.  Beca bought me some delish food from there and it was only like 2 dollars and it was so good.  I loved it.  So ya, I'm over my non-stop thinking/talking about it, but I'm still obsessed and I can't get enough of all the little legit Mexican/Latin American places in Logan.  I had no idea there were so many, but it makes me so so happy.

El fin.

This is the way I live*

Welcome to Apartment B~26!

We're a happy family. 92% of the time.

This is our kitchen, which we strive to keep clean.

And this is our living room, which is patriotic in all the wrong ways.

Right now, half of us are sick (and the other half are on the verge), including me, even though I've been popping vitamin c tablets like narcotics and stealing UK's echinacea. And the above pictures might be worth a thousand words, but they're lying words, because those photographs were taken a few weeks ago, and our apartment definitely does not look like that anymore. We're sick guys, give us a break.

Anyway, the point is, B~26 is usually the happenin' place around here, but it hasn't been so happenin' of late.

So catch us next week!

Guess What

I just got back from my very first real college date.

I'm all grown up now.

Twas great.

P.S.  I suck at dating.  No wonder I haven't done it.  Or is it the other way around?

Whatevs.

I Feel A Change Coming On

I've always been one against having your life plan set in stone.  Because I figure, what's the point?  God is just going to teach you a lesson sometime in the middle of all your plans that will change everything and you really have no control over that.

Let me try to make this short...

Basically, this theory of mine was taken a little too far in that I essentially had no plan, and one day in September/Octoberish of last year I was like, "What the freak, I'm going nowhere with my life."

So I sat down at my desk and wrote out some things I wanted to do, like goals and things, and one of those things was study abroad.  After searching it out and learning of my optinons, I decided upon ILP and as we all know, I just got back from a summer in Mexico that CHANGED MY LIFE FOREVER.

Most of those consequential changes were to be expected, but there was one that was really unexpected, and it's still in the process.  I am speaking about UVU.

I was just sitting there in my Mexican life at the end of Juneish when the thought came to me, "What if I transfer to UVU after next year?"

Uh, WHAT?!??  Why would I just think that?  That thought would NEVER cross my mind.  Buuuut it just did, so I guess I was wrong.

So then I thought about it.  What if I did transfer?  What would my life be like?  What would be different?

After thinking on that for some time, I determined that not only was I not completely opposed to the idea, but it actually sounded rather good.  And the more and more I think about it, the more I decide that that is what I am really going to do.  It's shocking, really.

So I prayed about it.  I haven't had like an "Aaahhhhh" sent-from-Heaven moment of the Spirit saying directly, "Brittan, get thee hence to UVU."  But I just continue to feel like that's what I should do, you know?  So as of now, that's what I'm doing.  And if it's wrong, I'm sure God will stop me.

But the change does not end there.

The other day, I was sitting in my Communication Disorders class and we were talking about bilingualism and cultural differences in language and what not, and guess what.  I was sooooo absolutely fascinated.  I LOVE learning about different cultures, and specifically about the language.  Living in Mexico, I was always totally enthralled with how we say things in English verses how you would in Spanish.  When my host sister would ask me questions about why/how we say certain things, it made me really think a lot about the English language and how we do it and it was soooo interesting. And remember on my blog how I said that there are words in each language that are not in the other that you sometimes just need?  That is so fascinating to me!

I walked home after class deep in thought.  What can I do with other cultures and language?  I thought and thought and then I talked to a girl who speaks Mandarin and she said she is majoring in International Business.  So that got me thinking, maybe I should change my major.

And then my life fell apart.

I did not notice until that very moment that I was one of those people after all.  One who had a life plan that was set in stone.  I was going to graduate from USU with a degree in FCHD and "work with kids."  That was the plan, but one thought in Mexico and one lesson on bilingualism later, and everything had quite possibly changed.

So now what?  I have no experience with this!  Now I know how every other normal college student feels, not knowing what they are going to do with their life.  It kinds of sucks.  But it's also kind of exciting.  Because now I'm all interested to know what I'm going to do.

What am I going to do?  The possibilities are basically endless.  What shall it be?  Any suggestions?

The New Plan:

1.  Research.  Study.  Look up majors and things that have to do with my interests in communication and language and culture and things and see what exactly there is out there in this area. Because I have no idea.

2.  Read my scrips.  Because you can't go astray with those babies, now can you.

3.  Pray my little heart out.

4.  Then I will pick something and go with it.

This is exciting.

One more thing.  The other day, I was reading my scrips and I had this overwhelming desire to choose the right.  I haven't had that in like years.  It was really great.  I don't know what it is, but now I just want to keep the commandments and do God's will.  Like, a lot.  It's cool.

The end.

But what would an end be without a blurry Mexican memory?  It just wouldn't be right.  Entonces, the following:

Doing the MJ at my birthday fiesta.

This is me in 70 years...

Bahahahahahahahahahahaha.

LOVE IT.

Change of Plans*

My new major.

Surprised?

Me too.

But it's gonna be great.

Sophomore Year

Hola. I'm a sophomore in college right now, and you know what? I actually feel like one. I feel old enough slash mature enough for my new status at this here university. It's pretty legit.

And can I just say, being a sophomore is like 17 times better than being a freshman. And that's saying something because I sure did love being a freshman.

But I don't know, freshmen are so young and immature and they don't know anything. And that's okay, because that's just the stage they are in. That was okay with me last year.

But this year, I don't know. Like I said above, I'm a sophomore and I can totally tell and I love it.

I love walking to my classes and seeing people I know left and right. What the what? Who knew I met that many people last year? I had no idea.

I went to the bank like 2 weeks ago and the banker totally remembered my name the second I pulled up even though I hadn't been there in four months. It was awesome.

I went to a random ward prayer with my former roomie, The Rock, and an institute teacher I had over a year ago recognized me and we talked for a bit.

And can you believe I seriously had an institute class OVER A YEAR AGO?!

What I'm getting at here is I'm one year older and wiser too and I love it. I feel more grounded as a college student and as an adult. I'm growing up!

So. Not that this post wasn't inspiring and informational enough, but I think it could end on a happy, Mexican note:

Hannah, me, and Paige on our last day of Mexican church, not even one month ago.

Ob.Sessed.

It has been 20 whole entire days since last I stepped foot in this fabulous country:

More specifically the state of Puebla in the country of Mexico. Most specifically the city of Tehuacán in the state of Puebla in the country of Mexico.

I just looked it up on Yahoo maps and guess what. There are 71 items on the list of directions for how to make the 2187.28 mile trip in about 38 and a half hours from Salt Lake to Tehuacán.

Oh my gosh. That last one?

71. Arrive at the center of Tehuacán, Pue.

It's like it's commanding me and my heart just wants to obey so so badly. I've been to the center of Tehuacán, Pue. countless times. I remember exactly what it looks like. I remember exactly how it sounds and smells. I remember where the fabric stores are that we used to go to all the time. I remember the movie stand we used to buy all our pirated D.V.D.'s from. I remember the ice cream shop we bought ice cream from two weeks before I left, and the market just to the left of it that smells like warm, raw meat. I remember the sound the tires of our little, red Ford Platina made as we drove across the cobblestone streets.

I miss it ALL more than I can bear.

My students. I watch my videos of them like every other day. They just finished their 13th day with their new teacher. I wish I was there.

My fam. I think about them daily.

You know what I'm really good at? Asking all the right questions to get people to talk and talk and talk and talk. And the great thing is I actually care about the answer and love listening to them, so it's a win-win. But I myself won't really talk unless prompted, and even then, I don't often give a lot of information. But this Mexico biz? It's CONSTANTLY on my mind. I don't bring it up every five seconds because I feel like that would be super awkward and boring for everyone else. But deep down, I really do want to explode on everyone my immense love for all things Mexico. What I really want is someone to play me in the conversation for once. I just want someone to ask me question after question and be genuinely interested because trust me, I would talk, and I would love it.

I just wrote my first paper of Sophomore year. Guess what it was about. Mexico.

I CAN'T GET ENOUGH.

If I could go back right now, I would.

Sigh.

I LOVE seeing Mexican families in Walmart.

I LOVE hearing the little Spanish parts of songs on the radio and actually understanding what they are saying.

I LOVE that there are two legit Mexican grocery stores, and like three Mexican radio stations in Logan. I feel right at home.

Okay, one more thing. In my history class, we are learning about when Columbus and his crew landed in the Americas, which was actually Mexico come to find out, so then we had to have a brief history on Mexico and he showed legit pics and everything and I loved every second. All the places he talked about were places I've totally been and all the pics he showed I recognized immediately.

AAAHHHHHHHH. MEXICO! How I miss thee.

Alright, voy a dormir. Hasta mañana.

Sophty*

Before we get started, let me just make a little announcement. After this post, I am boycotting this blog until BRITTAN gets her rear in gear and takes some responsibility, because this is still, after all, her blog.

Anyway, so far, Sophomore year is going just great. Even though I was a little concerned with the inevitable influx of RMs in our ward, it turns out my concerns were misplaced. They actually aren't as mature as I was thinking they'd be. Go figure.

I'm taking seven classes, which somehow only adds up to 15.5 credits. I had a mini-crisis the other day about switching my major and consequentially switching my classes around. But everything worked out, and I am proud to claim my current major as Humanities, with an emphasis in English, and minors in editing and political science. Don't get too excited though, it's very subject to change.

Uuuuuuuuhhh. Yeah. That's life in a nutshell these days.

Peace.

Until next time (which is entirely up to a certain someone).