Je me souviens!

This trip is living proof that I can do hard things. Part of my "Great Canadian Adventure" over spring break was to go to Quebec on my way to Ontario. I ended up spending a day in Montreal and a day in Quebec City. You will see through my pictures that my great love was Quebec City. I travelled by myself for much of the trip so get ready for lots of selfies. The main thing against me on this trip was mother nature. It decided to SNOW while in Montreal and stayed freezing for the next few days. Lessons learned? Don't go to Quebec in the early spring!

Thought this old rustic Canadian Maple Leaf was a good start to my time in Canada!

Ok so I did get a jumping picture. 

Poutine. Holy calories!

Notre Dame Cathedral in Montreal--saw a really cool light show here!

See, they speak French here. 

And now to Quebec City cause lets face it: this place stole my heart!

Very European-like buildings. Instantly in love. <3 p="">

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What a joy to travel alone!

Quaint shops

Oh the Funiculaire! I loved walking the cobblestone streets. Too bad it was 20 degrees outside.

The famous Quebec City mural. 

The famous chateau. Supposedly the plans for the D-Day invasion of WW2 was arranged here by Churchill and FDR.

Inside another cathedral.

Beautiful Street view

A wonderful time! I particularly loved all of the random people I met while I was in Quebec. It's amazing how when you're by yourself, you just talk to strangers. It made the trip that much more unique and meaningful. So grateful for these experiences. 

Some mighty fine young ladies

Looking forward to spending some quality time with these ladies this spring. Planning a bridal shower and bachelorette weekend has already been a riot (just imagine endless laughs and dance parties). Have I mentioned how much I love my friends? We are some mighty fine young ladies, yes'm.

Remembering Grandma and Grandpa Baer

A few weeks ago I returned to the land of Utah to honor my Grandpa Baer's 100th birthday. We had a reunion that was organized by my mom and my aunt. It was wonderful to see some of my cousins, my aunts and uncles, and some other distant relatives. It was especially fun to think fondly about my grandparents who both passed away 10 years ago. They were such an integral part of my childhood and I saw them almost on a weekly basis. As we got together to look through their photo albums and as we displayed some of their stuff, I couldn't help but feel nostalgic for those times when they came over and worked in our yard or when we went over to their house to eat grandmas's cooking. I miss them and I feel so grateful for the love and service that they gave to my family and to the church.

We had some fun displays at the reunion and I took pictures of a few of them:

My grandma's punch bowl. We also drank Grandma's banana slush. So dang good!

One of the display tables showing some of their photo albums. Grandma was so organized to keep pictures in order. 

The departed family members corner from our family (besides my grandparents, of course)

Grandma and Grandpa's early history, including Grandma's baby book from 1915! So cool.

My Grandpa's comptometer. My grandpa was a big numbers guy. I definitely didn't inherit those genes!

There they are when they were younger and older. A good-looking couple!

My grandma! A classic 1930s picture. She is so pretty.

And of course, we got some pics with the kiddos. Selfie with some Chrissie's kids and the new baby!

My newest niece! She is a doll.

My great aunt Barbara who is my grandma's sister. When I see her, I think of Grandma.

Only half of the grandchildren reunited...But fun to be with my cousins. We even got in a rousing game of Cribbage later on. Definitely a game to remember. 

All of my siblings were there! So good to see the whole fam!

My cute nephew. Such a sweetie.

This post wouldn't be complete without a sister selfie. I sure do love them.

So great to be with the family. It puts life in perspective and helps me to remember that there's nothing more important in life than your family members. Love you guys! Until next time...

Updates, updates, updates. Blessed, blessed, blessed.

It's been a while! What have I been doing with myself? Well it has seemed like a long winter, first of all, but there have been some great visits and fun activities as always. Here's a glimpse of what I've been up to recently...ps. a lot of selfies are coming your way!

Kathryn and Mark's family came to town on a sunny weekend in February. It was beautiful walking along the National Mall and so good to see my niece and nephews, of course. They are growing up!

We had another dance, hosted by Student government! Here are some of the SGA kids setting up for the dance and below is a picture of the dance itself...it doesn't look like much in the picture, but the decor turned out to be quite beautiful. I was relieved when that event  was over!

I ran into my old student teacher Jeff, who looks like more of a hippy than he did 2 years ago when he had come straight from Provo. A good guy! 

No, she is not flipping you off, but showing you her new ring bling! Sarah got engaged and I am going to be one of her bridesmaid. So happy for her, she has gone through a lot to get to this point! (I guess we all have once we've reached this age). 

Oh yes, and there was the day that we got evacuated from Wilson because of a chemical spill. Here is Aimee and I evacuating and heading to the nearby Middle School to wait for further instruction. 

And this is my coworker Patty. She and I share a classroom this school year. She is wonderful!

I saw my old roommate, Heidi and her husband and met her cute baby! We got together and ate some incredible pizza and laughed and visited. I have some amazing friends!

St. Patrick's Day dinner celebration with the old crew back together. I can't express it enough but I love these ladies! Note the green sparkling cider. They sure know how to decorate!

Students in my room the day that grades are due--on a Friday at lunch. Oh boy, has it been stressful wrapping up the 3rd quarter. Can't believe I only have one more quarter to go until the end of the school year!

Happy Holi! Hare Krishna festival of colors. It was quite the experience to throw colors on whoever and dance to some fantastic Indian music. I would do it again in a heart beat!

A beautiful sunset along the Potomac before the Cherry Blossom fireworks.

Girls night with Teresa and Kathryn! These women are so silly and so wonderful.

As I peruse through all of these pictures I feel so blessed for all of my opportunities and friendships! Life continues to rock.

Snow Daze

Well, Happy "Snow Patrick's Day" as DCPS is calling it. Today is my 7th snow day this school year! Definitely a record. Here are just a few pictures to document the "Snow Daze" we have been in since December. Ironically, most of the days off have been cushioned by a weekend, so we have not had a normal 5 day work week in months it seems! What am I doing with my time? Catching up on some BBC shows, doing some work, going to the gym, and planning my Canada trip. It's a dream. It's nice to have this time off but I am also aching for the spring! Can't wait to put away my winter clothes and get set for some sunshine. When oh when will you come?!

Returning to the Motherland

I am heading back to CANADA! I am so excited! I have not visited my mission since I returned 6.5 years ago. It's been way too long. Oh memory lane...

And yes, it's going to be so grand. It's like returning to the Motherland. Although the U.S is technically my "motherland" there is something about Canada that makes me tear up. Of course, my time in Canada was a time that I spent serving the Lord for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (See Mormon.org). This experience changed my life for the better. My understanding of God, my relationship with Christ, an enhanced desire to serve, and the overwhelming love that I felt for so many strangers as I walked the streets of Ontario. No words can describe how much I loved my mission.

In addition to returning to beloved Ontario, I am also going to MONTREAL and QUEBEC CITY! Can you tell how excited I am?!?

Montreal!

Quebec City

The cool thing is I am going by myself, which a few years ago I would never have wanted to do such a thing, but I am so excited to discover these places on my own and have a little adventure. I will definitely be posting about this trip soon, don't you worry.

I love Canada. 

I can't wait to be there again and bask in all of its glory, poutine, mounties, and bagged milk, eh!

I have confidence!

I am obsessed with The Sound of Music.  It's definitely one of my all time favorite movies in the world. Who doesn't love Maria, Edelweiss, I am 16 going on 17,  and, of course,  the dreamy Captain Von Trapp? Yum.

I digress...

But one song I have been singing in my head lately is Maria's infamous "I Have Confidence" song. I love it! Some of my favorite lyrics include:

I've always longed for adventure

To do the things I've never dared

And here I'm facing adventure

Then why am I so scared

And mind me with each step I am more certain

Everything will turn out fine

I have confidence the world can all be mine

They'll have to agree I have confidence in me

I have confidence in confidence alone

Besides which you see I have confidence in me!

This is how I feel right now. I long for adventure. I long to stretch myself and to better myself. I have faith in the future and I feel EMPOWERED to do hard things, to be happy, and to live life to its fullest.

Although I still have my tough moments and, trust me, I have my pity parties and cry fests, I do feel like my eyes, my smile, and my countenance reflect a sense of confidence I have never felt before in my life. 

Where has this come from? I definitely attribute it to God. A few weeks ago I told him that if certain situations in my life can't change, that I would ask instead for him to give me strength and confidence in my present life. I feel confident knowing that God loves me and is aware of my circumstances. And he has totally come through with his promises. I feel a strength beyond my own. 

Additionally, my confidence has come from my determination to live life and to not let my fears and worries hold me back from embracing the woman that I want to become. I don't want any circumstance or person to define my happiness. Ultimately I am choosing to be confident. And you want to know a secret? Sometimes I just fake confidence (especially in social situations) and it works! I am not advocating that anyone here should be fake, but I do believe there is power in optimism and confidence because confidence is contagious! And it shows. Trust me, I've received a lot of compliments about it as of late (Oh and sometimes I'll still go home and cry when I am feeling down, so don't feel like you got to always stay this way because that's not realistic!)

And the more times I tell myself that I can be amazing and do hard things, the more I believe it, and then suddenly my attitude and my actions change.

Guys, I wish I could don my hat and run around Vienna with Maria because seriously, I have confidence in me!!!!!!

Life is grand.