Charity date auctions
"Yeauuuup!"
noise makers Wreck it Ralph
Great friends
Late nights
Sleeping in
A brand new month
Planning Harry Potter Extravaganza
Getting rid of butterflies in your stomach (They kind of hurt!)
Dancing the night away
Advice from my Uncle Alex
less than 45 days until Christmas
The gift of patience... when I'm blessed with it. Strong guys or somethin' Free body messages
The girls I work with
the company I work for
bearing your testimony in class
G.I. JOE Public service announcements
Knowing that I get my mission call on WEDNESDAY!
Spending Saturday morning in your pajamas
The monthly trips to IF for Target
Michael Buble Christmas album
Secret Pinboards!
I stole this post idea from Cristina and from Brianne. (Check out their blogs too!)
Probably for most of you, none of these answers will be much of a surprise to you, but I thought it would be a fun blog post to look back on later in life.
1. Student
I am currently a university student. I am officially starting my 5th semester up in Idaho in just a few days.
I am thinking about changing my major to International Studies, but I am waiting to make sure that is really something I would be interested in.
This picture basically sums up my life in college:
2. Shift Lead
I work for a really awesome company/retail store called DownEast Basics and I really love it. It is one of the best jobs a college girl could ask for. The only set back is my new shopping habit! (Oh no!) For the past couple of months I have basically been running my store down here in Utah while we were in between managers, but as I transfer up to the Idaho store, I am excited to go back to being a normal associate. I love the girls I work with so much and we are all really great friends. I am so lucky to have this job.
3. Tiki
I have been a counselor at Retreat for Girls for 2 summers and it has literally changed my life. If you want to read more about my experience as a counselor read this. My counselor nick name is Tiki!
4. Disney Lover
I've always loved Disney Movies.
ALWAYS.
I even got the chance to WORK at Disney World, and I thought I would get sick of Disney,
but I didn't.
In fact, my obsession became worse.
5. Daughter
I have such great parents.
Now that I am in college I appreciate them more than anything.
They are a great mixture of supportive and letting me be my own person.
I also just want to put out there that I am a daughter of my Heavenly Father who loves me, and I love him.
1.Blue Jolly Ranchers. The village of Chirixquitzac (Are you ready for this? Pronounced Chit-ti-qui-zac) is about a 10 hour bus ride from Guatemala City. Towards the end of the drive, I didn't realize how close we were to the village and I popped in a blue Jolly Rancher. Now I usually avoid the blue ones because they turn your entire mouth blue (... go figure lex.) but for what ever reason I just didn't care that day.
Well it ended up being the BEST thing ever. As we pulled up to the village, all the locals were waiting anxiously for our arrival. As we stepped off the bus the kids all rushed forward to shake our hands and stare a little. I quietly stuck my tongue out to some of the kids knowing that it was blue, and it was so fun to watch their faces widen with surprise and hear them shrill with shock and amazement. (They can't stop staring at me!)
2. The affection. As a group, we discussed multiple times about how we couldn't even feel home sick because we were constantly showered with love and affection from the kids. They were constantly on top of our laps, rubbing our arms, calling our names, and spying on us.
See how they cling to Thomas? This is a regular sighting.
3. Obviously- The kids. Meet some of my favorites.
Ingri
Bento. (Aka: Bean)
Daisy.
\
And my ABSOLUTE favorite-Carmalina.
4. The Project. It's an amazing feeling to know you work really hard all day to make a difference in someone else's life. This years project was building stoves. For thousands of years, the women in this village have been cooking over open fire stoves in their homes. Obviously, the room would fill with smoke and cause a lot of health problems. The leaders of the village and Choice workers helped create a stove that would get all the cooking done without the smoke, and the fire hazards.
We mostly just carried cinder blocks. Uphill. Many times- all day long.
And a little bit of digging (In their kitchen. Dirt floors in their kitchen)
Last years project: The school
Project two years ago: Water system
(Pictured below- Water basin)
5. The scenery
6. The choice employee's. I want to be them when I grow up. Literally.
7. Dancing in the rain in the middle of the jungle.
On the last day we were dancing and celebrating with the villagers and all of a sudden there was a DOWNPOUR. We were drenched before we could make it inside.
8. The Marimba. *Cough* Maybe not.... Especially not at 4 in the morning.
- Meeting people that will change my life
-Bettering other peoples lives
-A week of non stop service
- A week of simplicity. No cell phone, no school, no drama, no computer.
-A week of realizing what I take for granted
- A week of empowering people and teaching them skills that will change them
- Getting chummy with DownEast "higher-up's".
- Getting chummy with everyone at Choice humanitarian
- Looking into possible Choice opportunities.
-Backpacking. I think I'm going to looove it.
Can I just take a moment to tell you all how excited I am? I am not going to lie, I have been hesitant to post much on my blog about my trip because I don't want this to become "Lexi's brag blog". I am super blessed to get this opportunity and I honestly don't deserve it. But I just can't take it anymore so I am starting a 6 day countdown series to lead up for the big adventure.
Here is what I'm thinking:
Sunday: Intro
Monday: To-Do list before I leave
Tuesday: Something I'm trying not to think about
Wednesday: What I'm most worried about
Thursday: What I'm most excited about
Friday: Departure night.
Does that sound interesting to you guys? Anything you would like to hear from me before I leave?
Lets start out with how I got this amazing opportunity.
Like most students, I work. I don't mind it. It definitely keeps me busy, but busy is usually a good thing in my book. I started working for DownEast Basics last spring semester about a year ago. I started while I was up at school, and I loved it enough to stay with the company when I moved down to Utah these last couple of months.
At the beginning of the year, they started putting up announcements on the webpage that we clock in with about a scholarship opportunity to go with DownEast and Choice Humanitarian to Guatemala. What is funny is I literally didn't think anything about it for the longest time. To apply for the scholarship all you had to do was write a small essay about why you deserved to go. I literally didn't take it seriously until the day before it was due. Basically on a whim, I decided to email myself the scholarship application information.
Part of the reason I was hesitant to apply was because I knew they had 4 scholarships- two full scholarships (Where DownEast pays for every single part of the trip) and two half scholarships (where DownEast pays for the expedition but you have to pay for your flight and other travel expenses). I knew I would feel terrible if I was offered a half scholarship and had to turn it down because I wouldn't even be able to pay for the flight.
But I went with my gut. I applied anyway. I wrote my essay and got some help from my future Uncle-in-law Wes and sent the email off on it's way. And then.... (interestingly..) I sort of forgot about it. I was anxious to hear who won the scholarship, but I was also really trying not to get my hopes up, so any time I thought about it I would push it to the back of my mind.
I had just been promoted to the Warehouse sale manager, and had only been acting manager for a few days when MY manager got a mysterious phone call where she left the room. I tried not to pay much attention or act very curious about her suspicious behavior. When she came back she handed me a post it note with a phone number on it and said "This is Mike's number from H.R. He needs you to give him a call" with the most serious look on her face. I seriously thought I was fired. Either I was fired, or as new manager they were going to make me fire one of my friends. I had a pit in the bottom of my stomach. I dreaded it, but slowly walked into the back room and dialed the number.
When Mike first answered, I introduced myself and told him I was instructed to call him. He sounded so nice but quickly said "Hold on Lexi..." and quickly finished giving someone on his side of the line instructions about something or another. As he was talking to the invisible stranger my mind was whirling. He wouldn't have been so nice if I was fired, right? Or even if he was going to make me fire one of my girls? Maybe he just needed some paper work from me?
He quickly came back and picked up the conversation again. He asked me about my intentions with the company and I was as honest as possible. He seemed pleased and moved on to talking about the trip to Guatemala. I think because I was so worried about the phone call, it took a while for my brain to switch gears and figure out what he was talking about.
And then. It happened. He said the magic words.
"Lexi. DownEast wants to offer you one of our full scholarships to join us in Guatemala with Choice Humanitarian."
My heart literally skipped a beat. Did he just say what I think he said? Is he serious? Wait... REALLY? I started laughing and crying all at the same time. I was in the back room of the DownEast warehouse sale, all by myself, and was doubled over trying to hold myself together. I choked out a "THANK YOU! Oh my gosh... Oh my gosh... THANK YOU. You have no idea.... how much... this means to me. I'm sorry. I'm totally crying. I'm.... THANK YOU!" You could hear how pleased he was to hear me having this conniption fit on the other side of the line.
He gave me more details about how to prepare and what to be expecting in the next couple of months, and then asked me not to tell anyone who worked for the company because he needed some time to let the other winners know and to get the information out. By the end of our phone call I was a wreck. I finally pulled myself together enough to go out and do my job, but all I really wanted to do was shout from the roof tops "I'M GOING TO FREAKIN GUATEMALA! I HAVE THE FREAKIN BEST JOB IN THE WHOLE FREAKIN WORLD!"
I left the back room, and there stood Erin, my best friend and fellow co-worker. I wanted to tell her my amazing news and I couldn't! To make matters worse she could tell something was up, and was pestering me with questions about my grin and the make-up that was smeared all over my face. It was one of the hardest secrets I've ever had to keep in my entire life.
And now, it's upon us. We are in the final countdown. By this time next week I will be in the amazing country of Guatemala.
I have had a hard couple of months, but recently I have received two major blessings in my life. This is the first one; I was promoted to be manager of the Downeast warehouse sale at the fashion place mall!
This picture is what my store looks like now that we have moved in. It works out perfectly because it is a temporary store (will probably be open no later than April). Its just long enough for me to learn a lot and put "manager" on my resume, but isn't so long that its over whelming for a college girl like me. I'm so grateful for this opportunity and I seriously LOVE MY JOB!!!!!!
