oh, canada!!

yesterday was one of the happiest days of my life.
i was soo nervous i didn't eat anything besides applesauce
all day!  my stomach churned, my heart beat fast, my
mind was in a million different places... but when the
mailman pulled up to the house and handed me that
big white envelope, all my fears went away and i
was completely at peace!  i opened the call just a few
minutes later and was completely surprised to read
that i would be serving in the gorgeous

CALGARY, CANADA MISSION!

i immediately started sobbing. parker was the first 

to come over and give me the biggest hug!  (he served in 

edmonton, just EXACTLY north of calgary!!)  CRAZY.  

i'll be speaking canadian, i mean, english, leaving sept 29th.  

seriously though, i couldn't stop smiling allll nightttt.  

what a crazy but completely happy time!!!  

i guess canada just must be in the ence blood!  no pressure, coleman :)

aaahhhh

well, friends... today is the day... 

gone.

i deleted my photo blog today.
just too busy to keep up with it.
i figure i'm leaving soon anyway,
i won't finish out the year.
i feel a little sad, but it's
for the better.  goodbye, sme365. 

thub dub.

props to whit who ate not one, but 2 chicken hearts this weekend!
i took a bite... katie jane took a bite... jennifer licked it, but whit ate 2!

"this used to give a chicken life!"  - jen

"now it's going to give ME life!"  - whit 

grandiose!

hiked
grandeur
this
morning.

14
miles
later
i feel
great.  

because life's better outside.

this was the absolute perfect weekend.  friday was the most beautiful wedding of my beautiful best friend katie leeflang - now the mrs. katie craigo!  everything was gorgeous - from the weather to her dress to her smile to the luncheon and reception to the temple in the morning.  june 18, 2010.  what a perfect day to be married.  i loved spending the day with my close friends celebrating the girl i've grown to love so so much since the 2nd grade!  as previously stated, katie and i have had so many adventures - from getting excited about checking mary's blood sugar in the second grade all the way up to sleepless nights at usu talking and laughing and gallavanting about logan.  I LOVE THIS GIRL!  although the whole day was a little surreal, katie was so happy on friday and that made me happy too.  she and colin were absolutely glowing all day.  i was so honored to be such a large part of one of the happiest and most important days of her life!  happy trails to you, craigo's :)

friday after we left the temple, my bishop called to tell me my call is going to be sent tomorrow and i'll receive it wednesday!!  i couldn't stop smiling all day friday and all weekend long that's all i could think about!  driving to the temple friday morning i stopped and thought... they could be assigning my call right now... and just started crying in my car - and turns out they did assign it friday!  what a wonderful experience this has all been so far!  when i'm on a mission high nothing else in the world seems to matter, and i'm pretty positive that's why the boy drama of the weekend didn't get to me as much as it maybe should have. . . (what a blessing!!)  and can i just say how much i love being on a mission high!  if this weren't so informal i would love to share some of the cool experiences i've had thusfar with this mission business... but we'll have to save that for another time

saturday was an early morning, but thus began the venture outdoors day of perfection!  don't ask me why, but venture outdoors is one of my favorite days of the whole summer every year!  yesterday went off without a hitch and i thoroughly enjoyed every single minute of it (except the moment of panic about the lost silly banz, ha ha).  shout out to preston b. barker who came with me at 7:30am and stayed till 12:30am to help.  what a trooper!  but what a happy day to see all our hard work and labor for the past however many months come to pass, finally!  the weather couldn't have been more beautiful, and i had so many willing friends that came to help out, as well as met a lot of fun new people at the festival, just like every year!  the most amazing thing about the festival to me is to watch how it all unfolds and works out so perfectly!  i don't think i would've done anything differently, and honestly after being involved in this thing for 5 years, i can surely say this was by far the best yet!  may it continue to get bigger and better!  (a little sad i won't be here to help out next year, but aimee already has be hired for 2012, don't worry, ha ha).

had to wake up early today, sadly, my body hurts like crazy, and i can barely keep my eyes open, but i love sundays with all my heart and today is the perfect sunday.  church today was so refreshing.  i love church days like that.  the music was particularly powerful and meaningful and i think with the extension of the mission high, i was just feeling really good about being a mormon today, hah!  what a blessing it is to have the good news of this world!  and what a perfectly beautiful day to celebrate the fathers and father figures in our lives!  i could write novels about my dad.  but today, just know that i am grateful for him and cherish him!

i'm happy to have my family back, safe.  coleman is still gallavanting around europe, but after a week of sleeping in this huge house all alone, i'm glad to have my parents and sisters back from pioneer trek!  sunday dinner takes on a whole different meaning when you haven't seen each other for 4 days.

what a happy weekend.  in so many ways than just the ones i listed, but alas, dinner calls.  time to celebrate the best dad in the world.

happy june 20th :)

you don't doorbell ditch the ence's.

so last night tiana and i were sitting at my counter chattin'.  i get a phone call from my across-the-street neighbor, jared.  he says, "sara.  you're about to be doorbell ditched.  go. to. your. door.  we're going to scare these boys!"  ha ha... so i go to the front door and for the next 3 minutes jared gives me the play-by-play of what these little boys are doing.  hiding behind the bushes, inching to the door then retreating back... etc.  finally he says, ok, open the door in 5...4..3..2.1!!  right when little ryan taylor was about to ring my doorbell i swung the door open and roared at him!  I WISH YOU COULD HAVE SEEN HIS FACE!!! he was absolutely terrified.  i have never seen a little kid be so caught off guard and absolutely scared!  he kind of froze on the porch for a minute, looking like he was going to cry, then ran away.  tiana and i closed the door and laughed for like 7 minutes.  jared.  what a great neighbor.  ha ha ha!  

celebrate katie leeflang week

 

that's right, ladies and gentlemen, it's 

celebrate katie leeflang week!!  

this soon-to-be mrs. craigo has been one

of my closest friends for as long as i can 

remember.  don't think it's quite hit that

she's actually getting MARRIED friday.  

but wow, am i excited for her!!  

so many adventures with this girl!  

and can't wait to see her start this new adventure

with her new man, sir colin craigo!  :)  

happy katie leeflang week!  

there is a road that has no ending

my daddy sent me this picture on saturday... 

this is the view from his hotel room in chicago. 

it's pretty safe to say i'm really jealous!  

today is my mom and dad's 26th wedding anniversary!  

sure glad they were hitched!  :)  last night president 

tingey was going on and on about how ideal of 

parents i got... and it's true.  i couldn't have 

asked or hoped for anyone better.  i love you guys! 

just call me sister ence.

the papers are IN.
done and done.
now... we wait.
i have a feeling
it's going to be
a VERY long
week and a half.
but honestly, i
haven't been this
sincerely happy
in a long time.
i can't stop
smiling this
night, and what
a glorious feeling
that is!  hooray!

fearless

guess what i did this afternoon?!

pookie muffin

s: "juje, i need you to come to the party store to help me pick out prizes that will be good for little kids."

j: "ok, but i'm not a little kid anymore."

s: "oh yeah?"

j: "yeah, i'm a ten-year-old woman..."

< as she licks cookie dough-caked beaters >

paint me in your sunshine

i
find
solace
in
knowing
that
everything
always
works
out
just
exactly
how
it's
supposed
to.

no
matter
how
many
unknowns
there
are
or
things
you
wish
would
happen...
or
not
happen...
things
always
work
out
in
the
end.

and
it's
just
like
they
say:
if
it's
not
ok,
it's
not
the
end.

good
night
moon.

driven and scattered.

FINALLY got my efy schedule today.  filling out my planner calendar i realized all the sudden summer is going to go by sooo fast!  june 26th i leave for provo.  efy for 4 straight weeks.  back to the 801 for a minute, until the fam goes on the summah trip that whole week of july 19-23.  then it's back to the efy grind from the 26th till august 7th.  on august 7th, just moments after my last efy session, i'll catch a noon plane and fly to UCLA where LEAP will take place until the 14th.  once the 14th hits i'll be a free woman again.  on my papers (which i submitted to my bishop today!) i put my availability as the end of august... if by chance i end up leaving end of august, there will be just 2 weeks to get everything ready then i'm peacin' out of here!!  summer just got crazier.  i'm a little sad to be leaving my family all summer... for provo no less... especially the summer before i leave for good, but i feel very blessed that i got offered 6 weeks of efy (exactly what i asked for!) and that i am able to go down there and be part of this experience!  efy was some of the highlights of my high school years and i can't wait to learn and grow as a counselor during this summer.  sadly i'll have to say goodbye to the bucket list gang - about broke my heart telling devino about it tonight :(  but i know this is what i'm supposed to be doing right now.  just all seems so CRAZY and i know before i know it summer will be over and all the chillins will be heading back to school. 
ps signed my life over to the byu honor code today.  not sure how i feel about that.

retro

driving past liberty park the other day
i saw this old black man on roller skates
with a walkman in his ears... dancing
and skating and singing and flailing
his arms, just like he was on cloud 9
and was untouchable.  just another
reminder that life is beautiful, and
worth celebrating!  love.

life is beautiful.

june 7th.

today is going to be a great day.

...

if you ask mae mae to smile this is what she does:

these are the goods from the first summer 2010 bbq: 

coleman graduated this week... what the?? 

the bucket list gang: 

i get to play with this lovely lady this week, and couldn't be more excited!! 

aaahhhh summer ROCKS!  

we're family.

63 days until the happiest week of the year.  

this is why i miss LEAP so bad: 

family!  

love you guys!  <3

       

t-swizzle

i remember what you 
wore on our first day 
you came into my life 
and i thought, 

"hey, you know, 
this could be 
something"

i heart coleman

s: "is this your cup that's been in the shower for like 4 weeks?"

c: "yeah.  i ate ice cream in it once."

s: "you ate ice cream in the shower?"

c: "it was homemade stuff."

s: "why did you eat ice cream in the shower?"

c: "because i wanted to."