"Cutesie"

Bows, ribbons, flowers, coordinating, barrettes, clips, sashes, scarves, shoes, earrings, pictures, and MATCHING. I just love these things. Every semester I always try to get my roommates to match and coordinate for roommate pictures, I think it so cute but much to my despair it never happens. So as always it didn't happen this semester either. But nonetheless, I still think they are awesome. What a good semester with Stacie, Megan and Hanna.

Amazing Woman

“DaLynn, slow down, it is not a race!” Was what she used to say to me during every piano lesson, “You will sound a lot better if you don’t try to go so fast.” The faster I finished the quicker I could get my hands into her DELICOUS treats, my favorite were her peanut butter kiss cookies, or maraschino cherry cookies.
Walking into her house to the smell of FRESH homemade bread, or scrumptious pies was almost expected every visit. Her bed was ALWAYS made, the living room was in pristine condition, vacuumed orange carpets, grocery lists on the fridge, and a huge curl dryer on the table. She would KINDLY direct us to the toys downstairs or if we were lucky we could play with the toys under the oven. After playing downstairs for a while, she would come down and ask if we wanted an ice cream cup with a wooden stick. But she would say, “PLEASE go eat it outside.” And we were quietly reminded to shut the door on our way out. We would say, “Can we watch a movie?” Even though we only had the option of Cinderella, so she would say there is SO many better things to do. Sometimes she would say, “Do you want to come back to Audra’s room.” This was a huge treat, Audra’s room! Wow how COOL! And then she would show us her newest sewing project. Which was ALWAYS for someone else. Maybe even ME. My birthday was NEVER forgotten, I think I got the same ABC cookbook twice, but it didn’t matter, I loved it just the same. Playing in the doll house was an ALL TIME favorite; take your shoes off before you go in! Upon leaving there was always a SWEET warm hug with her very strong hands. But what I will never forget is the sweet legacy she left. As I was at the hospital this weekend with her, I know she doesn’t know me and doesn't remember a single thing, yet as she was trembling her hands, I put my hand on hers and she played with my finger, I could feel her ever present spirit radiating and it comforted me as I started to bawl. I will never forget her wonderful example. Love you Grandma!

The Season of Gratitude

One of my favorite General Conference Talks this session was President Monson's talk on gratitude. I have reread it many times since I was there live and it just impresses me every time. And since it is a season of gratitude, I always like to write things that I am grateful for. These are my top things:
-The Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life
-Supportive Parents who love me and want to help me succeed
-A wonderful place to gain an education
-My friends and roommates
-Jesus Christ and the atonement

"We can lift ourselves and others as well when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues.... The grateful man sees so much in the world to be thankful for, and with him the good outweighs the evil. Love overpowers jealousy, and light drives darkness out of his life." President Thomas S. Monson

I am more excited this thanksgiving to go home and see my family than I have ever been before! Plus Provo is FREEZING! :) (but gorgeous)

Forever Stained

Everyday there is always something that makes me laugh hysterically.
So yesterday, I was able to go to the BYU vs. USU basketball, it was a great game and a awesome game to be a cougar. :)
However, I met some friends at the library afterward, because we are just stalwart students like that. I was concentrating pretty hard on my Statistics homework. Then out of the blue I hear Kennedy say, "Its a bird". And then I hear the flapping. Stacie yells, "No that's a BAT". At this point the 4th floor of the library turned into chaos. I was in awe and didn't move, meanwhile Stacie and Kennedy are clinging to each other and hiding behind bookshelves. As the bat swooped around the ceiling it got lower and lower and then all of a sudden it was over our table. At this point, I freaked out and jumped into the bookshelves with Kennedy and Stacie. The bat migrated to the other side of the 4th floor and we knew because we could hear the chaos forming as well. Mind you the 4th floor the library is the Quiet Zone. It suddenly turned into the NOT so quiet zone. I heard two boys yell, "Its like the office." They darted off with a coat and a garbage can. At the entry of the 4th floor the bat was trapped, by this time it had quite a crowd, paparazzi included. It was quite the scene. They threw a jacket at it and the bat hit the wall and fell to the ground, it got out from underneath the jacket. The boys threw another jacket at it and it was trapped. They quickly grabbed the garbage can and scooped it up, put a garbage bag over it and made a little air hole, so the little buddy could breathe. Everyone gathered and took pictures of the little creepy thing. I don't know where they put the bat, but about 20 minutes later the police came up. They said they had heard there was a bat on the 4th floor, we were like way to go security, way to be on top of it. After the commotion settled, it went back to the normal grind at the library. That spot on the 4th floor of the library right by the media lab will forever be stained in my memory.

Lessons We Learn

Today we had a WONDERFUL ward conference, the bishop spoke, as well as the Stake President. They both are wonderful men and have such a sweet spirit radiating about them.
One of the things that struck me that my Bishop spoke on was about choices.
He said, "You can only do the big things right if you are doing the little things right." I loved this, he went on to list the little things that guide us along a safe secure path to making big decisions, these include:
-Meaningful Prayer
-Scripture Study and Pondering
-Temple Worship
-Partaking of the Sacrament and renewing our covenants
-Serving others
-Caring for the poor and needy
-Magnifying our callings

All these in a sense are "little" things bring us to our Heavenly Father. They help us gain a strong hold to the iron rod. I have a strong testimony that as we do these things we will gain a knowledge of who we are and who we are to become. I love my Heavenly Father and I am extremely grateful for the blessings that he pours out to me.

Bleeding True Blue

Soooo obviously I am back from Israel, much to my dismay. I still reflect on those days quite frequently. But I love having my J-ru Crew up here in Provo its a blast.
I do not know if I have fully adjusted to being a full blown cougar, but I am sure having blast!
Hope we can win tomorrow! :)

Gamla

This at the top of Gamla. Gamla is in the Golan Heights, its a mountain that resembles a camel. It was a good hike, in Matt. 5:14-16, "a light on a hill" this mountain has the perfect image. You can see the Sea of Galilee from here. Christ would have taught at the synagogue on the top of this mountain.

This is Lebonon!

We went to a mine field, and I didnt realize it was real until one of my friends threw a rock into the area and everyone freaked out. So that sign its real and they dont want to clear the mines yet because Israel is afraid of Syria coming and attacking back so therefore there are still landmines. A little scary.

Eating Fishy and Freezing Water

This is a restaurent that we went to that served fish from the Sea of Galilee. The fish that they served would have been the fish that Christ ate and performed miracles with. I actually pizza, but I did try the fish and it wasnt to bad at all. People ate the eyes and the brain and that took it a little to far.

We hiked down to this beautiful water fall in the Golan Heights.

This is Me and Kim getting into the absolutely freezing cold water. I couldnt believe we actually got in it, I had never been so cold in my life and I stayed cold for the whole day. Kim didnt think it was that bad.

But we swam all the way to the back and got into the rock. We were so proud of ourselves. Until we realized we had to swim all the way back. I could feel my blood slow down and my lungs were not expanding like they should.

The Beginning of the Galilee Trip

The beautful sunset in Galilee. These pictures dont give it justice but the Sea of Galilee was so gorgeous.

Brother Manscill's class, we took a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. It was so fun, got to sing Master the Tempest is Raging and study Jesus the Christ. It was so amazing to read about the teachings and parables that took place there.

Thats where I stayed for the 11 days I was in Galilee. We stayed in a kibbutz called En Gev on the Sea of Galilee, the mountians that behind are the Golan Heights.

Tel Aviv Trip #3

We went to Tel Aviv again. Its a beautiful city and the best thing was we went to a NON KOSHER restaurant. Lindsey and I got the most amazing breakfast for dinner meal I have ever had. It was blueberry pancakes with fresh blueberries, bacon and fresh fruit. It was so good, it hit the spot.

Me and some of my good girl friends jumping on the beach. The sunset wasnt tha amazing but it was really fun to set out and enjoy the beach.

Gotta love the Beach :)

The moon was amazing, we spent all day chilling at the beach, playing in the water, playing volleyball on the beach and relaxing.

Neot Kedium Field Trip

Neot Kedium

This was our field trip at Neot Kedium, which is a Nature Reserve Park that shows what people in the Biblical times did. We got to be shepherds. It was so neat because we got a herd of sheep and had to guide them from point to point. And then they would let the sheep scatter then they would tell us what we did wrong and let us try again.

Its not that easy to lead sheep, espcially with this many people. But I understand the parable of the Good Shepherd much better now because I have been one.

We made Pita Bread on the fire. It was delicous. We crushed Hyssop and dipped our pita bread in it. We also had popcorn wheat and spiced herbs. I learned so much from the field trip about the time of the Bible times. it was so cool.

Arab Night and the Onion Church

We had Arab Night, fitting right since I live in a half Arab Country. This night we had Arab food and Arab customs presented to us. These two men are praying towards Mecca. This is a father and a son sing at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is the 3rd most important mosque in the Islam religion. So it was kind of a big deal to have these men come sing. There are 5 prayers that are sung over the whole city every day and these men sing it for the whole city. It was really neat their voices are beautiful.

This the door keeper at the Church of the Holy Sepulachre. His family has owned the church since the 7th century. He cleans the church and has all the keys. He has met a lot of politically important people and celebrities. He is an extremely sweet man who knows the Mormons and loves us. :)

This is at the Russian Convent. Its open very rarely and so it was awesome that we got in.

We call this the Onion Church. It is commemorating Mary Magdalene. It was one of the most beautiful churchs I had ever seen inside, the church is on the Mount of Olives in the middle of beautiful trees.

"Oh Come Let us Adore Him"

This is graffiti on the Separation Wall. The Palestinians have put graffiti all over this wall. It is such a controverisial wall and causes them so much grief and pain. They definitely have the worst end of the deal. It toke us 1 1/2 hour to get through but not because we were intorrogated because we had to wait in a huge line.

This is Manger Square. It is in the center of Bethlehem, the oldest city known to Christianity. And behind me is the oldest church in Christianity built in the 5-6th century by Justine, he also built the Church of the Holy Sceptlatcure and Stevens Bascillica.

When Christ was born he was laid here, where we are sitting. This is the spot pretty indefinitely because it has been labled since the 6th century which may sound like a long time afterward but its not.

This is where Christ was born. The 14 point star represents the 14 centuries before Christ was born, it also recognizes the 14 points on the Via Dolorosa ( where Christ carried the cross). You stick your hand down the hole and feel the ground where he was born.

This is Christ was born. Of course back in his time it was not in a chruch, it was in a cave. I am so grateful for Christ and his willingness to come down to Earth to perform his ministry so that I can return back to Heavenly Father someday.

This is Dr. Musallam. He teaches Islam History and Culture. He is an "interesting" teacher. He has a very strong accent. He lives in Bethlehem in the West Bank. He is Palestinian. It takes him about 2 hours to get to Jerusalem because of the checkpoints that cause so much problems. This at Bethlehem University which is in the West Bank, he also teaches here its like his pride and joy.

At Bethlehem University waiting for the video to start.

The conflict simmered down this week. Luckily we were able to go out to the center and go back into the Old City. It was great. There is still major conflict but the Dome of the Rock is still there so life is good.

This is the Russian Convert, commemorating Mary Magdalene... aka the "Onion Church". Its actually one of the prettiest churches I have seen. It is open very rarely so when we got out of class early one day we had to run there to get into it. It was definitely worth it! Cute little nuns run the church. The art inside is gorgeous, each piece of art was a picture of what Mary Magdalene accomplished. Its one of my favorite churchs, its located on the Mount of Olives right next to the Orson Hyde Gardens.

The Meditterean Sea beach sunset is probably one of the best beaches I have ever been to, so I went again. It was so pretty and a gorgeous beach to relax at and play in the water. But beware of the Jelly Fish.

Jumping for joy at the Meditterean Beach. It does not get much bettter than this. We walked all around the city and then it was time to hit the beach.

The scarf has many uses here in Israel. You can put it around your neck for warmth, you can wear it around you waist as a fashion statemnet, wrap it around your head to cover you from the sun OR wear it around your head as a headband. As you can see you could wear one in all the seasons, a phenomenon I havent learned until I got here.

Courtney and I by the purple bogen vias, it just reminded me of home. Glad we could coordinate with the plants.

Finals are OVER!

Well it has been two months that I have been living in Israel and I have recently experienced some actual major conflict. This picture is a barricade in the middle of the road, on the street outside the center. These are Palestinian men protesting because the Israeli police would not let them pray in the Dome of the Rock. There was two on this road that were blocking traffic. There were men in the street throwing trash and rocks all over the street. For the past couple days we have been on lock down in the center, we are only allowed in West Jerusalem. Both sides are tense and very aggressive. Its really crazy. But I feel completely safe in the Center. Finals just finished and so we went to the park and played the HA HA game. It was so fun and it was a gorgeous day. It was so relaxing.

Just relaxing in the park. Its winter so everything is green and beautiful. West Jerusalem is the Jewish side of Jerusalem and it is kept much nicer and litter free.

In West Jerusalem there is an open air market called Souk. It was friday afternoon and so its closing for the weekend. Because jewish sabbath starts friday at sundown. All the pastries and fruit are sold for super cheap because they cant save it. Its really neat to see the prices drop like crazy because they get really desperate. There are Shabbot police they blow a huge horn to make sure everyone knows its sabbath.

Kimber and I celebrating with refreshing mint gelato! So yummy! We were walking down Ben Yuhuda like we owned the place because we finished finals.

These are the Chagall Windows. They represent the 12 tribes of Israel. Every part of the windows is symbolic of the tribe. The windows are found in a hospital, what a randow place for a tourist spot.

It was pouring outside but who cares?! Jumpin' pictures are the best.

Getting ready to go dance the night away in the West Bank. Purim is a Jewish Holiday that celebrates the deliverance of the Jews from Haman and the story of Esther. They basically just partt, get drunk and dress up like halloween. We recently learned Israeli folk dance and the instructer invited us to his dance studio to party. We got security clearance to go to the West Bank and dance. So we all dressed up and went. It was really fun for a little while after a hour we got bored. But HEY when am I ever going to celebrate purim again.

As a part of Purim, the next day they dress up and party in the streets. There were magic tricks, juggling, dancing, festivals and crazy costumes. This lady was dressed up like an air vent. She had confetti in her hand an would make the air sound and sprinkle it on your head. It was so funny. She was on stilts so she was like 8 ft. tall.

This is a fish guy. He was also celebrating on the street. The holiday is so fun. We also were able to go to a Italian Synagogue celebrating Esther. It was so cool.

Finals are over and now we only have 2 classes. We are starting the New Testament, I love studying about Christ. Its going to be great. We are going to Gailee next week for 2 weeks. Im so excited. Life is good, I love being here.