Catch Up!

Ok, it has been too long since I have posted a new blog. Life as of now.. I am in Colorado Springs :) I got back on Thursday. It was really hard to leave Mexico City, I had made really good friends that i will always remeber. My last couple nights there were full of dancing, singing, laughing, crying, food, sore muscles, bruises, lots of packing, and lack of sleep. I am so thankful that Heavenly Father put those people in my life!

But now I am in Colorado Springs and how thankful I am to be home with my family and friends. I have had so much fun being home the past couple of days, it honestly felt like i never left. My mom picked me up at DIA and on the way home we were laughing while i told her stories from Mexico. My friends came into town this weekend and on saturday Laura, Erika and I decided to do the incline, but I told my mom I would go to spin class with her in the morning. It was a beautiful but hot day. My legs were pretty tired from spin class but i was so excited for the incline it was going to be my first time :) We didnt get there until noon :/ it was way too hot. But we made it up to the top, i was so proud of us. The next day my legs were fine but my hips hurt so bad. Laura and I went to church together and both of us were walking like we were 80 years old. It was so much fun and I am happy that I am 19 years old and able to recover quickly.. the rest of the day yesterday I was feeling better. Laura, Jason, Trevor, and I went on a nice bike ride to finish off the day :) so nice!

Feliz Dia De Las Madres

The Beginning:

The Cave People

The 20's, 30's, and 40's


The 50's and 60's

The 70's :) {these were my little ones :)}

The 80's and 90's :) can you tell?? haha


They also did a "Now" dance but I didn't get any pics :( It was the five year old's that did it. It was a lot of jumping around and shaking their pom poms :)

This is what we woke up to...

Lex and I were leaving today for the school and these things were posted on our gate. :) I had no idea girls knew where we lived. Such a cute idea though!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

I LOVE YOU! THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING!

What a LONG week!!!!

MONDAY: We found out exciting news this day. But with excitement comes fear. It was a day full of "What are we going to do?" "What is the plan for the next couple months?" ...and let me tell you simple questions like that can weigh heavy on your mind. It is time that we go back to Colorado for awhile. I leave on the 20th to start working and save some money for Lex and I. I am happy to be going home. To breath in the fresh mountain air. To go places by myself. To go on beautiful runs, hikes, and bike rides. But it's all a little bittersweet.. I have had the opportunity to work with the young women in our ward, and I am going to miss them so much. I had so much fun teaching, laughing, playing, dancing, painting, and sewing with them. I hope I will get to work with them again some day! We have also made some really amazing friends these past couple months that will forever be in our hearts. Thank you to them for helping me through this transition. :)
Thursday: I went with Tony to the school.. I was tired and not feeling 100 percent. I had been up since five in the morning and not in the mood to deal with crying children. But even when the children are driving me a little crazy there are moments of love from these tiny human beings. One little boy, that i think is absolutely the cutest thing on the planet, was learning about mathematics... but he was not paying too much attention.. the teacher called on him to read the next problem.. he started reading and all the other children made it clear to him that they were on the next problem.. he got upset because he was embarrassed and it clearly showed he hadn't been paying attention.. his little voice was cracking as he read the question and when he finished he looked over at me with tears in his eyes. I will never forget that sweet look on his face, it was sad but so innocent. All I wanted to do was wrap my arms around him and tell him it was ok and not that big of a deal. But to him it was a big deal, the problems seven year old's have ;) I am going to be such a sucker when I have a baby boy of my own!! :)
Friday: Off to the school again. It was completely different from Thursday.. The children were VERY clingy today.. I didn't mind though, it's nice to feel their love. It's a more comforting love than anything. A little girl named Alexa was the main clinger that day. Alexa, a little girl that hardly talks. She has six sisters and her family is very poor. She has beautiful Mexican features, I tell my husband I want our children to come out dark with Mexican features (most likely impossible because I am very white and do not any of those features) I love them though. I think that Indian and Mexican features are one of the most beautiful features.. and this little girl is living proof. Everywhere I went she would wrap her arms around my waist and follow me wherever I would go. Her tiny hands would wrap around mine and as I would look down at her she would give me this smile with her missing teeth and dark brown eyes. On days like this, I go home to my husband and I tell him that I want LOTS of children. :) he just grins and tells me "Whatever you want"
Saturday: Friday our Bishop came up to me and asked me to give a talk in Sacrament meeting directed towards the young women. He wanted me to speak about how to become righteous woman by developing righteous habits and preparing to be mothers in the future. Last Sunday, I was also asked to give the young women class about keeping family history records. My talk could be in English but my class had to be in Spanish. I am the worst procrastinator and hopefully I have learned my lesson.. I spent the ENTIRE DAY writing my talk and preparing for my class. My husband teaches the high priest class every Sunday and he was also given a talk for Sacrament meeting as well(of course he had over a week to prepare) I was stressed but excited to be given these assignments. Lex and I spent the entire day together.. it was so nice spending time alone together and doing what both of us love.. teaching the gospel..
Sunday: Today was a very good day! I was worried that my talk wasn't going to go well or that after I gave it our Bishop was going to say something like "That's not what I wanted you to talk about" haha I get worried about things like that before I give a talk.. nerves i guess.. But after I gave my talk our Bishop came up to me and said, "That is exactly what I was thinking. Thank you" :) Today there was also an investigator from Haiti. He speaks French, Korean, English, and his native tongue. No Spanish though(he is learning).. He came up to me and introduced himself(his name is really difficult to pronounce) and I had told Lex how difficult it must of been for him to not understand what is going on. Especially while you are investigating the church. I told him I was happy I was able to give a talk today and that he didn't have to have someone translating what I was saying. He smiled and with his heavy accent he said "Yes, your talk was interesting." haha good or bad interesting? haha! Lex and I got home from church completely exhausted.. we took an nap while the weather became gloomy.. how thankful I am for simple moments of peace where my husband and I can relax side by side... and how thankful I am for everything in my life.. at times it is difficult but once i take a step back and see all the wonderful people and things around me I can't help but get a smile on my face.. Happy Beginning of the week to everyone!

Just another day....

We had a very good Sunday yesterday, like usual. Lex and I try to feed the missionaries as much as we can. Yesterday was one of those days, the missionaries from our ward came over and we made them some delicious spaghetti. Lex and I have both decided to lay off wheat because he is for sure gluten intolerant and it is pretty much impossible that I don't have it because most of my family has it, on both sides. So we ate rice with sauce and corn, yuck. It tasted just like it sounds. Soon I am going to have to find some delicious gluten free recipes to make for the two of us. Anyway, yesterday apparently was a continuation of "Dia del Ninos" they had people walking in the streets playing music REALLY LOUD and dancing around in the streets. Also, it's not a party here if they don't have some kind of dynamite or something to set off in the middle of the streets, over and over again. While we were all finishing up eating I was sitting on the couch looking outside of our window. Enjoying the nice weather and the beautiful Sunday we were having, i see a man walking down the street and looking side to side. I wondered what he was doing and all of the sudden he stops and I saw something that completely traumatized me. I started laughing and turned my head and said "Oh my gosh, that man is peeing right outside our window." Of course living with all boys and having Elders over they all jumped up and looked out our window. We were all laughing and the entire time i had my face turned in the opposite direction. Just another day in the life in Mexico City!

I wish I could punch all mosquitoes in the face!!!

Two of the six mosquito bites i have. These two are the worst ones. It's that time again, for me to get covered in bites. I woke up yesterday morning and felt the back of my ear itching really bad, it took me a second and then i realized we had a mosquito in our room the night before. Then throughout the day they just kept popping up. I have 4 on my forehead, it's really attractive, and then these massive ones behind my ear and on my neck. I took some Benadryl last night, which i hate, but i ending up just falling asleep and hoping that in the morning they would be better. My husband first thing this morning said, "Let me see your face... You need more Benadryl." hahaha! Also, I showed Marcos them last night and his reaction was "Oh Snap, you got jacked up." Aw.. so sensitive they are ;) Anyway, this morning i was still feeling bad, but i put pounds of make up on so you can't notice them.. that much. But I was also noticing that my lips were looking a little blue but when I looked a little closer they looked fine. My husband came in and said "Why are your lips blue?" the only response I could give him that explains how I am feeling is, "I think I am dying." his response was "Yeah babe, you kind of look like death." haha.. sensitivity once again! Hopefully, I start to feel a little better :( and we will be able to keep these mosquitoes away from me!

Did she just say Craps?

One night when we were in Colorado Lex and I were talking with Astrid. She was talking away and Lex and I had no idea what she was talking about but we were very attentive and pretended like we understood. All of the sudden she said "..and then there were lots of craps." Lex and I looked at each other and started laughing. Marcos and Jasmine were in the kitchen and Astrid just kept saying "craps" Jasmine walked out and asked Lex and I what we were teaching her and we told her that she just started talking about craps. We asked her to repeat what she was saying to try and figure out what she was actually trying to say but all of us could not stop laughing. Which with a two year old it made her say it even more. We finally realized that she was talking about CRABS. But getting to that realization was hilarious. In the video Jasmine had called Arthur so he could hear what Astrid was trying to say, but of course a 2 year olds mind was on to another subject :) ...I love memories like this from home, it makes the visit that much more memorable...

The Mother's Day Dance!

Ok, I seriously cannot even watch this video without laughing so hard. Let me explain, the young women president wanted to make a dance for the young women to perform for their mothers on mothers day. Well, I wasn't able to go to the first couple practices but i didn't know that I was going to have to learn the dance. Last Saturday Lex and I went to watch the young women practice. Lex thought it would be so funny to make me dance with them. I definitely didn't want to but i figured i would be an example, i mean, how can we ask these young women to do this dance if we, as the leaders don't show enthusiasm about it. Also, I am the only leader that is doing it with them because I am young. Well, while we were practicing Lex was saying "You have to put your feet together", "You have to put your hands like this." Easy for him to say, he doesn't have to remember all of the dance moves. I told him that if he was going to continue to tell us how to dance he was going to have to come down and learn the dance himself. Knowing that my husband DOES NOT dance i figured that he wouldn't do it and then he couldn't criticise us. But the young women were very persistent in getting him to dance and so he decided to try. I taught him the first part and that's all he wanted to learn, that's why it's not a very long video. When he was learning the young women were on the floor laughing. They were excited to see a member of "Manitu" bust a move. For the record, he is the one that wanted to record it. After watching the video he said "Dang, I am such a good dancer." We must have recorded at least three videos for him to see how great of a dancer he is! Then, tonight while I was posting this blog I was out in the living room with Luke and I showed him the video, he laughed and said "I would rather shoot myself than do a mother's day dance." Little does he know I have a video of him dancing at an Independence day dance ;) looks like somebody is going to be doing my laundry for a couple weeks ;)

Back In Mexico City!

It's always hard to come back after visiting in Colorado. We all miss our families so much and get a little home sick. But after a week or two we all adjust back to life here.
Since we have been back we have met some really fun and amazing people. We have been eating out at a lot of fun and interesting places. We have gone to two concerts, Diana Krall, she was amazing. We also went to the Jesse and Joy concert, ever since, Marcos has been listening to the cd non stop. But it was an amazing concert as well, Joy has such a powerful and beautiful voice.
The weather is a little dreadful right now. It is very hot and very humid. Walking around for two hours makes you completely exhausted. You feel like you are melting away, it is the most uncomfortable thing to experience.
We have also been doing some more apartment searching. The one we are in right now is really not working for all of us and we absolutley hate the area. I have been looking online a lot and I found these really nice apartments and they were in a nicer area. Luke, Marcos, Lex and I decided to go and check them out. A friend of ours let us take his car so we didnt have to spend money on a taxi. It took us an hour and a half to get there because of all the traffic and when we got to the area the boys told me it was called the Red Light District.. so awful! But Lex still wanted to at least check them out. We found the building and went inside, they directed to the elevator and told us to go to the 4th floor. While we were in the elevator Lex shifted his body weight back and forth and the entire thing started shaking. We got up the elevator alive, thankfully, and decided to take the stairs up to see the apartments. We were waiting for the lady to come and let us in and my husband asked "Well, let's say the apartments are nice." and before he could even finish Luke and I both looked at him and told him that this place was a dump. Surprise, Surprise the apartments were just as awful! We left and headed back to our apartment, which took us another hour. When we arrived the friend that let us take his car had cleaned our apartment :) i love thoughtful people!

THE BIG DAY!!!

It was finally time for Lex and I to be sealed for time and all eternity!

The day started out so great.. even though it was SO windy but the sun was shinning. Erika and Laura spent the night at my house so that morning we all got up and started getting ready. I couldn't wait to wear my wedding dress but I had to wait until we got up to Denver. We were all rushing to get ready, and of course we were running late. We had to be at the Temple at 12 pm so that means we had to leave my house at 11 am to get there on time.. We didn't leave until 11:20 am.. It's a good thing Laura's nickname is speed racer, she got us there on time :)

I walked into the temple and I saw my wonderful husband waiting for me. I looked at him and smiled and gave him a kiss. They told us that they had to talk to us before and get all of our things in order, then they asked the question..... DO YOU HAVE YOUR LIVING ORDINANCE PAPER?...... Lex and I looked at each other, "Our what?"

Another obstacle in our way! We sat there trying to get a hold of our Stake President, in Mexico, from Denver. I told myself that Heavenly Father would not have made all of this possible and then just like that we wouldn't get sealed and would have to wait. I could tell that Lex started to get a little nervous and I told him that we would be sealed THAT day, i could just feel it! Of course Heavenly Father made it possible. They ended up getting a hold of our Stake President in Mexico and we had our Stake President in Colorado, President McConkie, talk to him.

I thought to myself: Lex and I cannot do anything without drama. When we have our first child, I am going to have to be in a padded room so nothing happens.. ha ha!

Lex and My Wedding-The Bridal Shower

Jasmine's dress was definitely the winner! What a beautiful bride! Hahaha.. she is the most hilarious girl i know. While they were dressing her in this beautiful wedding dress she was commenting on every little thing.. I was laughing so hard at how they dressed her up. When it came to judging Janice and Jasmine, Janice's dress came falling down and ended up all at her feet! Game: The lights in your apt. go out and you have to dress yourself.... this is how i dress myself in the dark apparently :) {Laura and I}

{Laura, Erika, Me, Janice, and Erica}

I was so excited to have a bridal shower. I had never been to a bridal shower, that i could remember, so i couldn't wait to see what was in store. The weather hadn't gotten any better and i was starting to get a little stressed out about what the weather was going to be like for our wedding. I decided to put my worries aside and just have fun with my friends and family! It was such a blast! We played games, ate pizza and a delicious cake, and shared stories. I am so blessed to have such amazing people surrounding me!

Lex and My Wedding-The Arrival

Lex and I got into Denver around 4 in the afternoon. We were so excited to finally be home! Our flights were good very long and we knew that we still had an hour before we would actually get to the Springs. We met up with my mom and started our journey home. My mom told us how awful the drive was because the weather was bad. Outside it was rainy and hailing a little, i didn't think anything of it because Colorado can be so much worse. We dropped Lex off at his parents house and there to greet us were Jasmine and Astrid. It was such a great surprise! After we dropped him off my mom and I went and got some food, I was starving and had nothing but airport food.. yuck! We got home and on the news it was telling us that there was going to be a major snow storm, but again knowing Colorado I didn't think it would really happen. I called my best friend, told her i was home and within ten minutes of our conversation there was at least 3 ft. of snow outside. All I could think was "Oh No, it's going to be like this on my wedding day."

I LOVE MEXICAN CHILDREN!

Honestly, I love all children! But recently I have been going to a school here in Mexico with a friend from church. She is a 2nd grade teacher and I have been helping out in her classroom. The children do not speak English and I speak very little Spanish but it is so entertaining trying to communicate with them.

A group of little boys walked up to me and said "Habla Ingles?" I said "Si" they looked at me as if confused on what to say next. One of the boys knew a little bit of English but was too afraid to speak with me so he told his friends to communicate with me. His friend was brave enough to talk to me but had no idea what he was saying to me. He started off with "What is your name?" I said "Karissa." he looked at me confused and walked away. He came back and said "My name is." and walked away again. He then proceeded to tell me all the English he knew but he had no idea what he was saying. By the time the bell rang him and his friends were running into their class screaming "I love you."

A little girl was sitting at a table that was right next to me. I could hear what her table was arguing about something but they were speaking so fast it was hard for me to understand. Finally, they called my name and asked me a question. I looked at them confused because they spoke so fast and i couldn't catch on to what they were saying. Tony, my friend that teaches them, looked at me and started laughing. She said "Karissa, the children want to know if Chuckie is really in the United States." I laughed and told them "No."

I am so grateful that I have had the chance to meet these precious children. All children are such a blessing to this world, they are so loving and have the most beautiful hearts. I love the fact that they don't care what people think of them and they will start dancing in the middle of the classroom, that their biggest worries are if Chuckie lives in the United States. That they will hug you even though they have no way of communicating with you! I am so thankful for children and happy I am able to be apart of their lives in a small way!

9 MORE DAYS!!!!

I can't wait for the 27th! Lex and I are getting sealed in the Denver Temple :)

We have been trying to figure out when we would be able to get sealed because Lex's job is kind of up and down with giving him days off. We finally got the date about a month ago and have been planning ever since! We originally wanted to get sealed in the Mesa Temple in Arizona because it has a lot of history, that's where Lex's parents were sealed and that is where Lex served his mission. But with certain circumstances we decided on the Denver Temple instead! We leave for Colorado on the 23rd and we come back to Mexico on the 2nd of April!

I am so thankful to be getting sealed to my wonderful husband. It has been such a journey so far in our marriage and I cannot wait for this new chapter to begin :)

Loving the blog world!

I think this is such a good idea. My sister-in-law has a blog and we always go on her blog since we live in different countries. I love going on and seeing her stories and looking at pictures of our beautiful niece Astrid. I got sucked in and i love it! ;)