In Five Days....

+I will begin my adventure as a full time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

+I will say goodbye to my family, friends, school, social media...basically the world...for 18 months.

+I will start to wear nothing but skirts, flats, sunscreen, and mosquito repellent. #sessy

+I will read nothing but straight up sciptures.

+I will speak nothing but good ol' Espanol.

+I will start making new friends. hopefully quickly.

+I'm going to learn a whole new meaning for the word tired.

+I will eat a whole lot of platanos.

+I will learn how to journal every day, and hopefully stick to it.

+I will learn to serve everyone around me.

+I am going to fall in love with basically everyone in the Dominican Republic.

+I will be the best missionary Santo Domingo has ever seen. (; #swag 

19 Days and Counting

HAHA. See what I did there?

Alright friends I have nineteen days left in good ol' murica. Man, I'm gonna miss this place.

....or am I.....

I'm going to be a full time missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints pretty dang soon. And I'm going to be that missionary in the beautiful country, The Dominican Republic! Off to the Motherland I go. I've been trying to prepare as best I can and it's not as hard as I thought! Letting go of the "world", I mean. So basically, a mission is gonna be cake.

Anyway. Here are some things that enter my mind 215893548 times a day:

+The Lord knows I can do it...so I can do it....I can do it.

+The Lord is only asking 18 months out of my ENTIRE life.

+Do they have Taco Bell in the Dominican Republic?

+I should probably google that.

+Will my mom be okay? Two missionaries out at the same time. oof. 

+Is this the part in my life where I find out who my real friends are?.....I know not all of you are gonna write me...

+Will I brush up on my Spanish fast enough to be a successful missionary?

+...Yes, Kim. Yes you will. A bunch of your companions  and Elders are going to be LEARNING Spanish...

+Man, I REALLY wish I practiced the piano more...ugh. I have a feeling I'm gonna regret that soon.

+Goal in life right now: BE THE BEST MISSIONARY I CAN BE. #swag

+I hope they like me down there...

+I AM SO EXCITED AHHHHHH ((:

^^last picture I took with this stud^^

Saying "See Ya Later" to Rexburg Went a Little Like This:

When I continue my schooling a couple years from now, I will be entering my senior year. SENIOR YEAR. That's CRAZY! And so exciting!!

I'm so grateful for all the crazy memories I have thanks to Rexburg, Idaho. I'm also grateful for cameras and journals. Yes. I cannot believe I've had the privilege of living there for three whole years. I must be getting old. I've met some of the strangest, happiest, most intriguing, most spiritual, most influential human beings in this cute little town. And when I come back, I'll meet even more people, and that's kinda weird to think about.

--Sammy's, home of famous pie shakes, delicious burgers, and the best employees.--

--taco bus--

^^My dear friend and roommate Kate got engaged on my last day! AHH!!^^

It was a lot harder saying "bye" than I thought it was going to be. I loved my job, I loved my roommates, I loved my classes. Everything was going greater than it's ever been. And I kept thinking about how "it's only 18 months" and "this will be here when I come back" and "thousands of people do this allllll the time." Friends, whether these things are all true or not, it doesn't really help. I met a great deal of people these past couple of semesters that I might never see again! And that seriously broke me! On my last day, I cried forever. I even cried for most of the trip to Utah on the way to the airport. No bueno. So many emotions. And I had never felt SOOOO loved by such a large group of people. They don't even know me all that well but they treated me like they had known me for years. I'm literally the luckiest lady in the world to call these people my friends.

But I know that more adventure awaits me in the Dominican Republic where I'm going to experience things I've never experienced before and meet people that I'm going to love so so so so much. 

So Rexburg, stay precious. I love you! I'll see ya soon.

let's talk nature.

I'm a city girl, born and raised.

I wouldn't change it if I could.

But that doesn't mean I can't get my hands dirty every once in a while and get in tune with my inner granola.

A few friends and I took a trip down to a breath-taking place called Packsaddle Lake up here in pretty little Idaho. I was seriously stunned at how gorgeous it was!! The trees were so green, the sky was so blue (for some parts, anyway...it snowed a little bit while we were there), the water was so green. And not in a nasty-polluted-litter-bug kind of way. In a naturally beautiful kind of way. If the water wasn't so dang cold, I would have jumped in and swam a bit. So that's why I'm in a hoodie in a lot of these pictures haha. But anyway.

I'm so incredibly grateful for this beautiful earth. These iphone quality pictures don't do it any justice. But our weekend of adventure and exploring was amazing, and I'd do it all over again in a heart beat.

p.s. all of the landscape pictures are unedited. I'm no photographer, but I didn't think they needed it!

^^on the drive there!^^

^^when the cold was bearable^^

^^hammocks are one of God's greatest gifts^^

^^one of the campers that was there brought their dog, Blue. And yes, that's snow^^

thanks for stopping by! have a lovely day!