SAN ANTONIO!!

About 10 hours after I got back from Seattle, I hopped on a plane to TEXAS to see my sister Jenny and her cute family.  I loved spending time with my little nephew and brand new niece!! life doesn't get much better than that!  hanging out with their parents was pretty fun too :)  Here are some fun pics from the trip...although I think Jenny has better ones.  Turns out James can't keep his eyes open if the flash is on.  

 first time writing his name!

 would've been super cute if James had gotten my head in the picture...

My favorite parts:

*Hanging out with James: building train tracks, reading books, playing in the wading pool, taking pictures with my camera (he took about 200 of his own), and having an epic dance party after breakfast (it's tradition)

*Holding baby Ella: nothing sweeter than just watching a newborn sleep.  She is beautiful!

*Morning runs with Jonathan

*Watching Smallville with Jen and Jonathan

*Chatting with Jenny and observing her be the best mommy :)

*realizing how much i can learn from little kids....observe:

I can't wait to visit the Bosters again! 

LOVE YOU GUYS!! 

Secret confession, I cried in the airport after you drove away :) Thanks for everything.

GOING BACK HOME!

Well my dream was finally realized and I was able to take a roadtrip back to Seattle!  I have now been home from my mission for TEN MONTHS (crazy to me) and I finally made it back. It was amazing how much it felt like home. Part of my heart will always be in Seattle and with the people there :)  I am SO glad my dear friend and former companion Diane was able to come along...it made it much more fun and meaningful.  She survived being with me all day every day for 6 days so our friendship passed the test!! (I know we were together 24/7 on the mission, but I'm sure then the Lord was helping Diane look past my weirdness) It was kind of strange being back in mission boundaries TOGETHER yet not being missionaries.  We had to document a couple things like SWIMMING IN THE LAKE since we never could before! Thank you to everyone who was so kind and let us stay with you or fed us meals or just let us back into your homes! The one hard thing was there were so many MORE people I would have loved to see and spend a lot more time with. I guess that just means I will have to return soon :) Don't think I have forgotten you. You know, you always wonder if people will remember you...because I remember everyone so well...but I know I was just one missionary out of MANY. So thank you for remembering me! LOVE YOU ALL!!

 14 hours flew by because it was such a party!

 Pike's Place Market!

 the famous gum wall

 one of the 100 jumping pictures we took (don't worry i'll spare you)

Lake Sawyer! we got to get in this time. Thank you Wellborn Family! 

with Maddie and little Max in the paddle boat 

Mario Kart with the Streights. pretty intense...i don't think Dan ever beat me :) 

STREIGHT FAM!

 More Maple Valley friends

 what a fun group!

 Some of the women we want to be like when we grow up :)

 Sister Nelson!

 the cute blonquist family in their home (aka our 5 star hotel)

 after lunch with lindsay!

my first ferry ride! 

 a stop at the Allens as we drove through Idaho

 we had high hopes of hitting all the temples along the way...too bad they were ALL closed

 Diane was an amazing windshield cleaner at all our pit stops. check out the lovely bug guts

 the Allans! Now there's a place that feels like home :)

 delicious lunch with the Tsangs!

 THE LARKINS! 

President had to leave before the picture...but since it was for a meeting with Elder Perry,
I guess we'll excuse him.

 she's taller than me now!

 sister morriss! our mission mom :)

 LOVE the Allen Family

 classic Bustamante/Martinez picture

Alaina and I!

BBF's :) LOVE YOU DI!
Thanks for flying to Utah just so you could jump in a car for 14 hrs with this crazy girl.

I just realized how many people I forgot to get pictures with.  Sad. But you're probably glad...because let's be honest, I just posted a boatload of pictures that you probably got bored scrolling through.  

CAN'T WAIT FOR MY NEXT TRIP HOME TO SEATTLE!

a long time coming :)

well last wednesday (August 3) we dropped off my mom and dad at the airport to begin their long trek to siberia!!  it got me thinking about the amazing journey we've had so far...

*september 2010: we had no idea they met with Elder Dallin H. Oaks! good secret keepers :)

*november 2010: i was enlisted to go pick up my dad from work so he could get ready for a "dignitary meeting"...aka a meeting with President Henry B. Eyring where they were officially called as Mission President and companion.  He told them they could share the news with us kids...mom said, "good because i already lied to my daughter (ME) this morning!" haha i had no idea.

*december 2010: after picking out a christmas tree, mom and dad got the bosters on skype because they had news for us. i, of course, was the immature one that said "mom isn't pregnant is she??" No Liz, they are going to go on a mission!!  The emotions?? surprise, excitement, sadness, excitement, JEALOUSY :)  More than anything, I was blown away by their willingness to give up everything, put their own needs aside to serve the Lord.  Now that's faith.  That's dedication.  They must really believe in this to put their lives on hold and leave such great kids right? they do...and so do i :)

*january-february 2011 (yeah weird i can't remember exactly!): THE ENVELOPE ARRIVES WITH THE MISSION CALL!

and they are going to the Arkansas Little Rock Mission! And for the next few months, we're singing songs about Arkansas, memorizing all the missionaries pictures, planning Christmas in Little Rock, etc.

*Early June 2011: pops gets a phone call from Elder Hinckley of the Seventy informing them that they will no longer we going to Little Rock. I get a phone call from mom to see if I was available for a conference call with all the kids. talk about scaring me!  Then when we were all on the phone, Pops tells us they'll now be going to preside over the Russia Novosibirsk Mission!  i'll admit i was pretty shocked...but accompanying the shock was a great sense of peace and rightness. I remember going home the next night, and we all stayed up late listening to papa's journal entries from over the years. i was struck with how many times he had been prompted to prepare for this mission. the Lord had been preparing him his whole life. it made me stop and realize that the Lord is preparing all of us for certain things if we will just listen and follow those little promptings.

*June 12, 2011: Mom and Dad's farewell!  It was so fun to hear mom and dad speak and have friends and family over.  sadly the only picture i have is of me making the fruit trays for the event!

*June 16, 2011: Pops was honored by the City of Holladay for his service over the past 10-ish years. I'm so proud of him for giving up his judgeship to serve the Lord! ("and he yielded up the judgment-seat, and took it upon him to preach the word of God all the remainder of his days" - Helaman 5:4)

*June 17, 2011: We all got to go downtown to the church administration building for Dad to be set apart by Elder Russell M. Nelson and Mom by Elder Rasband of the Seventy.  It was an amazing experience! more than anything, as Elder Nelson spoke of the history of the church in Russia, I was touched by the Spirit and reminded that this mission isn't about us, it's about the Russian people.  Up to that point I'd only thought of our family...but after that I was so excited for my parents to go serve those beautiful people! I hope I can go and meet them too.

*June 22, 2010: this was a switch...we dropped my parents off at the MTC for the Mission Presidents Seminar!  It was so fun to be back there and see them get their tags :)

*June 26, 2011: picked up mom and dad from the MTC and took them home for a few days

*July 4, 2011: got to run a half marathon with my dad! we didn't think we'd be able to because he was going to be in Little Rock by then...but with the switch to Russia, they were still waiting for visas! so fun!

*July 2011: Mom and Dad spend the whole month in the MTC learning Russian!! We sneaked them out every once in a while for a visit :) including another half marathon on July 30!

*August 3, 2011: after all the waiting for visas, it seemed this day would never come. but of course it did!! early in the morning we all headed off to the airport. it was really hard to say goodbye! secret confession: there were tears :) But i'm so grateful for modern technology, because I've already heard wonderful stories of my parents and the missionaries and the Russian saints!

*so it seems like the end of a lot of waiting...but now the good stuff has just begun :) i can't wait to hear more of their experiences! LOVE YOU MOM AND DAD!!

the blog drought is over

well it's been FOREVER....my life has just been way too exciting i haven't had time to blog about it haha. jk mostly i'm just lazy.  then it gets overwhelming because there's so much i haven't blogged about, how can you ever choose?? so i'm just going to start with recent happenings.

#1: i am creating this blog post on my brand new LAPTOP!!! so this is an excellent opportunity to explain how liz works when it comes to purchasing big items.  i don't do it often. but once in a while i really need something (or sometimes i just really want something). sometimes it takes me a few days to talk myself into it, but i'm pretty good at that.  THEN i call mom.  and i tell her i really want to buy something but feel like i shouldn't spend the money.  but she's also pretty good at telling me i deserve it haha.  then once mom gives me the ok, i feel great about it. this was no exception. i started realizing how my old old desktop was dying. i started thinking of all the reasons my life would be easier with a laptop. the winners were: i'm going to be a lot busier in the fall so i can get more of my dissertation project done wherever i am, i can take it to class and take notes on it, and i can skype with my family as we're scattering from utah to texas to SIBERIA.  then i called the parents, and they were all for it. so that very day i took abby to best buy with me. i was just going to look, but once i found one, BAM i just had to get it. so i did.  so now i feel really tech-savvy and up to date with my new computer! LOVING IT.  well there ya go i've managed to go on and on for a full paragraph when i could've just said "i bought a new laptop"


#2: i am officially walking like a grandma. i really think tomorrow i will not be able to move at all. why you ask? because this morning i ran a half marathon with my pops in 1 hour and 55 minutes! this was my third one of the year, and usually i don't think too much about my time. but today we had a goal to get under 2 hours. we started out running with the 2 hour pacer, but felt claustrophobic in the crowd so broke ahead. we were somehow able to stay ahead of them the whole time and ended up averaging an 8:42 mile! this was my favorite half marathon course i've done because we started about 8 miles up american fork canyon and go to run down as the sun was coming up. it was GORGEOUS. i'm kind of a weirdo and i can listen to just about any kind of music when i run as long as i enjoy it. today my ipod was on shuffle and "praise to the Lord the almighty" came on in the canyon, and i couldn't help but marvel at how beautiful this world is! other memorable songs that popped up on shuffle....i was getting pretty tired around mile 10 when "where you lead i will follow" by carole king came on (the gilmore girls theme song!) which reminded me of my roommates and helped me keep going....then at mile 12 (when i really thought i couldn't keep going but duh it's mile 12 so of course you can do one more mile) "every step of the way" by david benoit came on, which just made me happy because it reminds me of riding up the canyon in my dad's old convertible when i was a kid. anyway there's a sampling of the random songs i listen to when i run haha. some people think i'm weird, but that's ok because weird people have more fun. anyway pops and i were super proud of our time!! my roommate steph finished in like 1:45 so i think she is wonderwoman. maybe someday i will be that fast. here are some pics of the event!

mom and dad in the MTC!

well i just got back from dropping off my parents at the MTC! we took the classic pictures by the Provo temple and then drove them in.  Turns out the people there are amazing and memorize all the mission presidents' faces. We pulled into the MTC and the man said "Welcome President and Sister Gibbons!" He then asked how they felt about the recent call change to Russia (by the way, I don't think I ever blogged about that. My parents' call was changed from the Arkansas Little Rock Mission to the Russia Novosibirsk Mission!! A big surprise that feels really right!).  Everyone was so kind.  Luckily we will still see them a few more times before they ship off to Siberia, so this morning was more fun than sad.  They will be there for 5 days, come home for a couple, then return for a few weeks to learn Russian while they wait for visas. Here are some pics from the day!

GRRRR it's not letting me add pictures...weird...i will have to try again later!

proof that i was the brunt of all the jokes in jr high and high school! haha

so i'm home this weekend, and i noticed my old yearbooks on the shelf so i pulled them out to take a look.  turns out, starting in 9th grade, 95% of people's notes include some kind of short joke...seriously. it made me laugh. here are some of my favs...some are nicer than others haha

9th grade:

"Liz, eat your spinach cause it makes you grow" - jeremy

"Liz is short" - andrew glenn (yup that's all it said haha)

"You are the coolest person that is of short stature that i know" - ryan haver

"sad to think how bad i could waste you any day any time" -justin turner (haha ok so that one doesn't reference my height but i thought it was hilarious) 

"liz, you're too tall" - christopher sirstins (again, that's all it said haha)

"get shorter liz, you're too tall" - josh s.

"you are so short" - archie (chris...do you remember..."why do you call him archie??" "CUZ THAT'S HIS NAME!!" haha)

"...I heard the high school guys go for the short gals . . ." - kenzie coburn (thanks kenz!! trying to make me feel better haha)

"liz, you have really small fingers hehehe" - jeff dawson

"liz, how did you get so short?" - caleb burrell

"hi liz, you're so tall! you need to shrink during the summer" - mitch cannon

"liz, you are small, so i shall write big!" - megan

"have fun this summer and grow up!" - dan reschke

10th grade:

"liz! we're going to hang out right? YOU'RE SHORT! jk" - jon hart

"hey liz, i think that you should grow a little over the summer" - jeff dawson

"liz - your short. grow some" - anonymous

"liz, life is short and so R U" - riley dehaan

"you and eric lee should date because you're the same height" - jordan

"liz, i won't make any short jokes . . ." - marianne cannon (thanks mari! haha)

". . . oh and i hope the summer isn't too SHORT for you . . ." - dan reschke

"hey liz, you would be cooler if you weren't so short . . ." - don ford

"liz . . . DON'T GROW!" - eric evans

" . . . don't forget to grow so u can see ova da steering wheel." - troy

"liz, maybe you could make it easier on yourself and just be tall next year!" - mitch cannon

"hey liz, hope you grown some more this summer. wait what am i saying? some more? you need to start growing to grow some more. Oh well, you're still the greatest" - matt mantyla

11th grade:

"liz, i would use a short joke, but i think i used them all. wait, except for the one about the wizard of oz calling about try-outs for the lollie-pop-guild. but thats ok." - dan reschke

i could go on and on, but i think you get the idea :) haha i just had to share the laughs with you all.

the news!

well i'm supposed to be sleeping right now, but i am just in a blogging mood! mostly for one big update...

 I AM OFFICIALLY ACCEPTED INTO THE PHD PROGRAM!

other than that, it's been a great summer so far! (if you can call it summer with all the rain...which i have secretly been loving...)

my dear friend/mission companion kayla got married!

 fun times with high school friends

 mother's day!

 kelly and i in our matchy rain jackets! (she is also in the lab full time this summer so we have plenty of adventures together)

 my roommate stephanie won a vacation off the radio!

 kelly and i again, this time with the awesome flask of cells i composed a limerick on . . . everyone likes a good limerick :)

yup, life is pretty great :) seriously . . . today was just fabulous. it was WARM, pops and i ran 12 miles with a gorgeous view of salt lake valley, i got to reunionize with some high school friends i hadn't seen for years (kenzie, dani, marianne, and amber to be exact), i got to go to the temple, we listened to elder lynn robbins at stake conference, i came home to my acceptance letter in the mail (and a letter from my first greenie who's coming home in 2 months!), AND i got to belt out country tunes with my windows rolled down quite a bit today. lovin' it.

PhD? or not to PhD?

today i officially turned in my application to switch from a master's student to a PhD student!!  i've been thinking a lot about it the past week and it just feels right. i'm so excited! after looking at all the requirements i think it will just take me one extra year than the master's would have. i'll graduate in April 2013 instead of April 2012.  Plus i figure if i really have to I could do one more summer and graduate August 2013 and it'd still be a pretty sweet deal :) it will be hard work but i think it will be the kind of nerdy hard work that i LOVE!! so cross your fingers the department gives me the OK!


PS - i have a new life motto.  you know the song by Lee Brice "Love like Crazy" ? (country of course!) well one of the choruses goes something like this:


Just ask him how he made it
He'll tell you faith and sweat
And the heart of a faithful woman
Who never let him forget

Be a best friend, tell the truth
And overuse I love you
Go to work, do your best
Don't outsmart your commonsense
Never let your prayin' knees get lazy
And love like crazy


well i decided my new life motto is FAITH AND SWEAT. it's kind of along the lines of "work like it all depends on you, pray like it all depends on the Lord" ... but i think FAITH AND SWEAT has a nice ring to it. i kind of like "never let your prayin' knees get lazy" too...but FAITH AND SWEAT still wins :)


sweet...this concludes another lame blog post! tune in next time and be wow'd once again.