Stanger familia.

Ellie being the amazing nice daughter she is decided to surprise her parents with pictures for their anniversary. And me being the amazing nice friend that I am, agreed to help.

The result?

THIS....

I have the most beautiful best friend EVER.

and Garrett has really squinty eyes.

I enjoy this family.

Nate.

They are models. Truly, they will be in a magazine now.

The children.

C.J.

Conner is a chunk and so cute.

J.J is very cute as well.

This may be my favorite picture.

Maybe I'm just hungry...

Today I'm craving Ethiopian food.

In fact, my mouth is watering thinking about it.

If your extremely curious to know more about the food then go HERE.

And now that you have read about it, I'm guessing, you want to try it now.

so WaaaaaLAA...

HERE is a fairly authentic injera recipe.

and HERE is a variation to the recipe if you don't have teff.

Next, you need to make some sort of wot to go on top of your injera.

Go HERE for Dora wot.

HERE for Tibs

or just go to Ethiopia and get the full cultural experience.

Posting stuff. and a lot of Everett.

I'm overwhelmed with the posts I want to post.

So I've decided to cover it all in one.

1. Lydia got married.

She has been a Montour for a whole month now.

I have SO many wedding pictures to edit.

Maybe in 3 months I'll finish them.

2. It was Christmas time.

Everett made it fun with his "ooohs" and "ahhhs" with every gift opened.

We also went sledding.

3. Coming home from the reception in Washington we had an adventure.

Highway closed + hotels full= sleeping in a gym.

I enjoyed the delay.

4. New years was fun.

Sticking with tradition we burned our Christmas trees.

and Everett ate snow and met his older twin.

5. I'm enrolled in artificial insemination.

poor cows, poor me.

6. Ellie & Kate.

We make life epic.

Having beach parties in the hot tub.

Star gazing and sledding on water beds.

Good times.

7. I got a nasty sore on my back.

My parents are convinced it's a bug, spider bite, or worms from Ethiopia.

Either way, it is looking better.

8. Everett.

He's the cutest little grub ever.

I miss him.

Alyssa and him flew back to Ethiopia this week.

Our house is too quiet.

How do you feel?

Today I was quickly and frantically reading material for my English class so I could quickly and frantically write an essay on it when I came to this article...

"Most people don’t know the answer to the question, “How are you? How do you feel?” The reason why they don’t know is that they are so busy feeling what they are supposed feel, thinking what they are supposed to think, that they never get down to examining their own deepest feelings. “How did you like the play?” “0h, it was a fine play. It was well reviewed in The New Yorker.” With authority figures like drama critics and book reviewers and teachers and professors telling us what to think and how to feel, many of us are busy playing roles, fulfilling other people’s expectations. As Republicans, we think what other Republicans think. As Catholics, we think what other Catholics think. And so on. Not many of us ask ourselves, “How do I feel? What do I think?” – and wait for an answer."

-- S.I Hayakawa

I couldn't help but to stop and think, how do I really feel?

Things could be said about my feelings but I'll spare you the details of my internal wrestling match.

You should ask yourself the same question.

It's interesting what you might discover.

Changes.

I've been putting a lot of thought into the changes life brings.

In my experience, change can bring hardships, adventures, happiness, and basically the full spectrum of emotions.

Within the last 23 days I have experienced a lot of changes.

Some embraced better then others.

Changes/things that have happened:

1. One more sister got married.

2. I live in the United States again.

3. I have a cellphone that people can actually reach me at.

4. Christmas time was less exciting and there was less people.

5. Climate adjusting.

6. College.

7. Now I have to retell my Ethiopian stories to EVERYONE.

8. Started work.

9. I live at home but don't have an actual room anymore.

10. I'm doing the full P90X workouts.

11. Friends have changed or moved away.

12. I feel less happy.

13. I drink milk again.

14. I wish a lot.... ( to be specifically blogged about)

Without changes life would be a constant boring mess with no variables. In just a day we experience thousands of changes. Ranging from how many hours of sleep we get, to what we eat, Who we see, what we doing, and of course even the weather's behavior that day.

The changes faced in a day or a week or the year require being flexible. I like to think of myself as a pretty flexible person. Ethiopia especially taught me to be flexible, nothing ever went as planned. In fact, the entire purpose of my trip was completely changed when Wes was attacked and I was able to accept that. However, I'm having a hard time accepting and enjoying the changes my life has taken now and it's nothing like the challenges I was slammed with in Ethiopia. I think it's a matter of being inflexible as far as my attitude is concerned. I don't want to be here going to school so of course I hate it. At some point, maybe I can find happiness and enjoyment at BYUI but I still have my doubts.

In summary, I hate being in college, I wish I was still in Ethiopia and I'm inflexible about trying to like BYUI.

So appealing.

I want to drop out of college.

after the first day.

Goodbye Ethiopia.

I can't believe how fast time went by and yet how much happened. Today I especially wish I was still pointing at that sign.

It's sad to think the time turned from months to weeks then weeks to days then days to hours and now, hours to unforgettable memories so fast.

Ethiopia has given me the hardest, most amazing, unbelievable experiences of my life.

I will miss it.

and am missing it,

a lot.

I left Ethiopia with lots of goodbyes but not nearly enough.

And I experienced a lot of last times.

Last time being a forengee.

Last time with my homeless friends.

Last time buying soft on the street.

Last time riding in a mini bus.

Last time walking to the fruit stand with Alyssa and leaving with our backpacks so full.

Last time going to the open markets.

Last time and more last times.

To be honest, I don't really like last times.

One of the last times buying soft.

Saying goodbye to Ethiopian food. I miss Injera.

All the street boys that wash cars by my house.

Saying bye to Samson. He is the one who offered to make my dreads using avocado and eggs.

It's nice to be home with family and friends.

and now i'm experiencing a lot of first times again.

First time eating my favorite cold cereal.

First time back at work.

First time partying with friends.

First time driving again with the music blaring.

First time being in Rexburg with dread locks.

and the biggest of all,

First time going to college, oh boy.

These first times have been great,

but my heart is still broken for the family and dear friends in Ethiopia.

Final goodbyes were heart wrenching with lots of tears.

It was especially hard leaving Alyssa behind.

Being in Ethiopia and the hardships I saw and and experienced changed who I am. It gave me a new perspective on life and what truly matters. It has given me the opportunity to really ponder and act upon what I believe and what my standards and morals are. It taught me more about myself and how I cope with trials. It humbled me. Ethiopia gave me an adventure of a lifetime and solidified my desire to help others internationally.

I love Ethiopia and will go back someday.

also, be prepared for Ethiopian pictures and stories to pop up on here for quite awhile more.

Who wants to go to court?

It turns out, we do, we do!!

and WE ARE, December 13th.

Go here for more of the details.

Thanks were given and Celebrations were in order:

indescribable love for half birthdays.

...................................................................

I love birthdays.

I love half birthdays more, I think.

especially mine.

.....................................................................

Activities of December 2:

There is nothing like walking out of your house on your half birthday and having a bunch of guys tell you they love you. Talk about self esteem boost! Even better then that is getting a card saying I love you. Thank-you.

Our white skin attracts everyone and their dog. Lots of beggars, children selling soft, wanna-be boyfriends, salesmen selling a variety of items, or people who simply want to talk with the farengie. We have our usual followers who know us by name, many of them include street kids, like the ones above. We have a lot of fun with them; passing out glow sticks, buying soft from them, lots of laughing and painting their nails, like in the picture above.

They loved getting their nails painted and I loved painting them. Many people were interested in what we were doing and took our picture. It was a good half birthday party activity.

You often see homeless or very poor people wearing sandals made from car tires. Their resourcefulness is amazing. I have been wanting a pair. After searching and wondering we found them at the Marcado ( The largest open market in Africa). These are some of the fellows making them.

I love doing things out of the ordinary. Just like being in the bus station, getting tire shoes is something forengees don't do. The locals got a big kick out of it and so did we.

After our shoes were made, of course, we decided to wear them the rest of the way home. Unfortunately, they were incredibly uncomfortable despite the fact that they were custom cut out for us. It would have been more comfortable to walk bare foot then to endure the tire cut into our toes. It didn't take long to greatly appreciate real shoes.

Half a cake for half a birthday :)

Luckily, I got one and a half cakes for my half birthday. The kids arranged the candles in a heart, I felt loved.

A whole 18 and 1/2 candles!

I have been an adult for a full half year, crazy.

Pretty cool thing about Ethiopia you can buy movies for 20 Birr, about $1.25. There are boys that walk around selling them, all of which are pirated. Now that I know them, they give me the heads up if they are good quality or not. Thank-you. All the kids, Alyssa, and me watched and loved it. We highly recommend it. Nothing like watching a Disney on your half birthday.

...............................................................................

My half birthday was amazing.

After seeing this, I bet you all will celebrate yours now too.

I love June 2nd and December 2nd.

And getting balloons on those days...

or any day for that matter.

........................................................................................

Also, since I'm sure you're all wondering, the pictures are black and white for dramatic effect, since I'm getting so old and everything.

Just ONE more....

Ethiopian adoption process goes like this:

"Just go to one more office..."

"You only have to get one more paper..."

"Now only one more stamp..."

"We need one more picture..."

"One more signature..."

"One more, one more, one more..."

As time goes by, one mores add up and end in a lot mores.

A lot more tears.

A lot more frustrations.

A lot more time separated from family.

Today Alyssa and I were excited to finally summit for a court date. We were confident everything would work out and would be finished with the "just one mores" and would get a court date within this next week.

Unfortunately, that didn't hold true.

Instead we were turned away to do a few more one more things.

Though we are upset, things will work out, even if it hasn't been on our timeline.

We'll have a court date soon.

This is how one mores make Alyssa feel sometimes!