Someday...

Someday, I want to be just like this family. I found them while reading comments on this blog. Um, hello. Will you please be my best friends? The fact that they just packed up everything, including their four children, and moved to France for a year is absolutely fascinating to me. People do that?!? Now that I know, I want to be one of them! How amazing would that be??? To live in a different country for a year, learn the language until you and your family are fluent, make friends with your neighbors, grow to love a new culture...amazing. I promise, if I can find a way to do this, I am going to do it. Jonathan will just have to find some kind of job he can do from overseas, and still make lots of money. :) And please don't burst my bubble. This is kind of a new goal in life. But don't worry, you can come visit me and my family when we live in some amazing house in southern France. Haha.

While reading through their blog, I found some music that she had posted that they liked to listen to. I heard these songs and these artists while I was over there summer 2007. I thought it would be fun to share some of it so you can get a taste of what modern French music is like. It might take a while to get used to, particularly if you don't know French! But it grows on you. :)

Emmanuel Moire - Là où je pars (Wherever I Go)


Rose - La Liste (The List) and Ciao Bella (Goodbye Beautiful)

Christophe Maé - On S'Attache (We're Attached...I think that's an accurate translation) and Ça Fait Mal (That Hurts)

On another note, the BYU French Professor that I went on study abroad with started a blog - BYU in Paris - on which he and his students can post about their upcoming study abroad in Paris this fall. Professor Olivier has lived in Paris several times and knows so much about the city. I thought it was worth sharing. He's got some excellent ideas on places to visit, as well as a few humorous posts inbetween the comments from students. Makes me wish I were going back...

One year older...

And wiser too! Last Wednesday I celebrated my 22nd birthday. Although it did rain, it was still a pretty good day. To read about my actual Birth Day, go HERE. I woke up and Jonathan let me open my presents. I got a card from Grandma & Grandpa Pace with some money - thank you! From my parents I got a gift card to Target, a nice frame for my diploma, movie tickets and Twilight! Thanks Mom & Dad! You spoil me. :) Jonathan gave me some sheet music that I've been wanting - Something Corporate and Jack's Mannequin. I was just playing it...I love it. He also got me a new phone (well, that was kind of an early present) and the best one...he made me a CD of songs that remind him of me and he recorded two of the songs that he wrote to go on the CD! So now I can listen to him play and sing to me whenever I want! It was a wonderful gift. I will treasure it always!


I decided to celebrate my birthday elementary school style, so I brought cupcakes in to work. We didn't play heads up 7-up though. But some of the girls at work did take me to get a pedicure during my lunch break, so that was nice and relaxing! Everyone from work got me a card and an itunes gift card, which is fantastic. I have been making a list of the songs I want to buy to put on my next mix CD! Also, one of my co-workers mentioned to me that there was a 2 for 1 ticket sale going on for the Jack's Mannequin concert in July! So I talked to some friends and J-Baum and Sarah Worley and my friend Rebecca from work are all going too! It was my birthday present to me! I'm so happy!!! :)

Later that night a bunch of family and some friends came over for cake and ice cream. Jonathan made the cake all by himself! He even decorated it all nice. Check it out!


He's quite creative. What can I say. Jonathan also got me some blue flowers, and my visiting teachers got me some orange ones. They look rather nice in the vase together! Everyone sang to me, of course. And I managed to blow out all 22 candles in one breath. Hopefully my wish comes true!

It was quite the party in our crowded little apartment. The nieces and nephews certainly enjoyed playing with the balloons. My nephew Landon drew me a picture on an envelope with my name, and inside was one of his most prized possessions...a torn out page of a Star Wars lego magazine that had been folded and worn down a lot. It was very kind of him to share something that meant so much to him! Probably my favorite present. I should've taken a picture of it to post on here, but it's already hanging up at my desk at work. Becky, Anna and Nick got me a first edition of The Last Time I Saw Paris by Elliot Paul. Never read it, but it looks interesting. Ang and Guta got me some law school supplies! The array of colored highlighters will come in handy, I'm sure. And Dave got me a card with some money. :) Thanks to everyone! And thank you to everyone who called, texted, or facebooked me to wish me happy birthday! 21 was certainly a very good year...and hopefully 22 will be just as great. :)

"You've got to ask yourself one question...

...Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?"

Can you guess what we did this weekend? Yeah, we shot guns. It's no big deal. Just my first time. And I was pretty good. So I might feel pretty cool now...

Saturday afternoon Jonathan and I went with Taylor and his date Marcie to the other side of Utah lake to shot some guns! I shot a .22, a 9 mm, and a rifle! All by myself! I might have been nervous or scared before, but once we got up there, I wasn't at all. My first round I shot a plastic jug off of the top of a post from about 65 feet away. I was pretty proud of myself. And the boys were impressed. :) Later with the rifle we were trying to hit a small exploding target. I got pretty darn close, but didn't quite hit it. And on my last round, Taylor put a small drink bottle on top of a post and I hit it on my first shot. Jonathan told me that if any bad guys come into our house, he would give me the gun to shoot them, haha. Apparently I'm a natural... "Easy Annie Oakley," he would say. Hahaha.

This is the view from the other side of Utah lake looking over to Provo/Orem

Jonathan getting ready to lock and load

Taylor loading powder into the small explosive targets

Shooting our first round with a .22

Jonathan and Marcie shooting .22s with Taylor watching

Look at that concentration...

Taylor looks thrilled to be standing next to a girl holding a rifle...while we were up there, a guy stopped us as he drove by and said "I just told my boys that they better find girls to date that they can take shooting. Glad I can point to you as an example!"

This picture shows about how far away we were from the target - You can kind of see the white target against the hill

Jonathan helping me position the rifle and get used to the scope before I shot it for the first time

Getting ready to shoot the rifle. Probably scoping out my target...

And this is me actually shooting it. I think I look pretty good with a rifle, haha. My shoulder is a bit sore today from the backfire of the gun, but it was worth it!

Oh, aren't they just so cute together? From the back anyway...haha.

Hooray for trying something new! And guess what?! I loved it. We'll have to go again sometime so I can perfect my super sweet shooting skills! (Hows that for alliteration?)

After shooting we went to the Bombay House for Indian food, which was quite delicious. And then we watched a movie at our place. We had a blast hanging out with Taylor and Marcie!

In other news, Jonathan caught a bird on Saturday. It rained really hard and we think it got knocked out of the next. Jonathan took it in, dried it off and helped it to fly again. You can read the story from his perspective here.

Poor Jonathan, he wants a pet...

Silly bird. He flew around our living/dining room for a while until Jonathan decided he was ready to fly home...

Lately the weather has been quite strange. Mostly cloudy and rainy. Saturday it rained incredibly hard - I'm not sure I've ever seen it rain that bad. It was hitting the ground so hard that it would just spray right back up. Even under the porch you could feel the mist of the rain. On Thursday, it rained most of the day, but as I came out of the church after a young women's meeting, I saw this:

The rainbow was so bright! And it was a perfect arch (this only shows half of it). If you look closely, you can see another rainbow just above it. Rainbows, especially like this, are just amazing. They really do make you want to chase them to find the end!

PS - 2 MORE DAYS UNTIL MY BIRTHDAY!!!!! :)

Anagrams

Today is June 11. And it is pouring rain here in Provo Utah. I find this quite depressing. Most of you know that I do not like the rain. I like sunshine. And 90* weather. The weather forcast shows cloudy and rainy for the next 7 days, including my birthday. Let's just say if it rains on my birthday, I will be sad. :(

Anyway, some of my friends at work and I have been messing around with anagrams of our names after reading and discussing Rebel Angels by Libba Bray. Here are the ones we came up with:

Jessica Marie Tyler = Jaymie Scarlet Reis or Claire Jaymie Tress

Sharlene Mae Gibb = Ember Ash Bengali or Amber Gable Hines or Elena Gibe Brahms

Rebecca Anne Robinson (this was the hardest one) = Innocence Brae Barons, Innocence Sabre Baron or Ebonie Bracers Cannon

It's a lot of fun figuring that out. It can take a while to find one you really like. So I'm curious...what do your names all come out to? Try it and find out!

New Toy

I just had to post about the new toys Jonathan and I got on Saturday - new phones!

I got the BlackBerry Pearl 8130...I wanted the red one, but I guess they don't make it anymore, so mine is a dark blueish gray.



Jonathan got the brand new Palm Pre that just came out on Saturday. He actually doesn't have it yet - they had to order one for him since they sold out before the doors even opened on Saturday. He should get it today or tomorrow. It's supposed to be the rival of the iPhone. He's pretty excited about it.

We love our new toys so far. Shout out to Jonathan's mission buddy Jeff for getting us a killer good deal with Sprint. We now have unlimited calling, texting, and internet for about the same price we were paying for just regular service (calling) and about 250 texts a month with Verizon. I love checking my email and perusing the internet on my phone! It's amazing. I'm having fun finding out all the little things my phone can do!

Also, my friend introduced me to phonezoo.com, another awesome site. You can select ringtones and have them texted to your phone for free. You can also create your OWN ringtones! You just upload a song, choose where to edit it, and then it's sent to your phone. I love it. I'll never be starved for ringtones again. Oh, and the quality is perfect. Check it out! :)

Mail Time!

Following in the footsteps of some of my favorite bloggers, I have decided to instigate the tradition of Jessica's Mailbag, in which I can write letters to whomever or whatever I want, whenever I want. Mostly for my own enjoyment. But maybe you'll enjoy it too. Here goes...

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Dear Jake Heaps,

You are the #1 Class of 2010 High School Quarterback in the country. And today you will announce your commitment to BYU Football. According to my co-worker Larson, you have also already “recruited” four other 4 star players. And along with your announcement today it is rumored that “Texas receiver Ross Apo (who had already sort of committed to Texas) and California linebacker Zac Stout will commit to the Cougars as well.” Thank you for the hope of a bright future for BYU Football. I will be following your career with much interest...

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Dear Mt. Timpanogos,

I am kind of frightened of you. I am told your trails are long, steep, exhausting. But that won't stop me from making my first attempt to reach your summit with Jonathan this weekend. They say it is worth the climb. We shall see.

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Dear Everyone,

You keep asking me “When do you start law school?” to which I reply, “Middle of August.” You then inevitably ask “Are you excited?” To which I answer, “No.” All I know of law school is that it will be hard – lots of reading, intimidating teachers, competitive classmates. Am I excited for that? Not really. I plan on taking it one day at a time, trying my best not to get overwhelmed, still trying to live my life. But I do plan on enjoying my time there. I'm just not excited – yet. You know what I am excited for? Summer. 90* weather. Light until 10 pm. BBQs. Boating. Corn on the cob. Vacations. Sunshine. Sunglasses. Being outside. That's what I'm excited for.
PS – I even got a letter from the law school saying the best thing I can do to prepare is “look up the word 'Recreation' in the dictionary, and then try to do as much of that as possible.” And trust me, that's what I plan on doing.

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Dear Girls Camp,

You are three weeks away. I am not sure if I am ready for you or not. I have never been to camp as an adult leader before. I hope I can handle the drama, the little sleep, the loud laughter. I hope it will be fun and uplifting. I hope I can connect with these girls and help them draw a little closer to our Savior. And I hope I do not freeze to death. Apparently it will be cold. Lame.

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Dear Jack's Mannequin,

Why did you decide to cancel your own tour and choose to join The Fray on their tour? Your own concert would have been much better. I heard you were going to play the full set of The Glass Passenger. Which would have been fantastic. And probably cheaper. As it is, I have to pay much more to see you open for a band that I would normally never buy a concert ticket for. And I have to convince my friends to come up for the concert, since I wouldn't go by myself (since Jonathan doesn't like concerts). As you are in my top 5 favorite bands, I will be very sad should I miss your concert...

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Dear John Adams,
I find your life (as portrayed in this miniseries) quite fascinating. I knew you had a large part in the founding of our country...I just did not realize how serious your role was. Your passion and zeal for the law has further inspired me to study it. And your wife was an incredible companion. What a lady. I have thoroughly enjoyed learning about your lives and about the beginnings of the United States of America. I will be seeking out David McCullough's books to learn more. I heard him give this lecture at a BYU forum once. Fascinating. I hope more miniseries are made from his detailed accounts of our country's founding. Every American should revisit our miraculous beginnings and remember what a great privilege it is to be called an American.