Dearest Followers

My dear friends and family of blogworld,

I have loved sharing so much silliness, craftiness, seriousness, and whatever else spills out of my brain through my fingers on this blog. I'll be leaving this week to serve the Lord on an 18 month mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and not posting to this blog during that time.

Good news: I will be serving in the Tennessee Nashville Mission where there is a blogging pilot being tested right now, so there is a chance that I will still be writing! If I am selected to participate I will share a link here on Latest Endeavor so you can keep following me if you like.

If I am not then please don't give up hope on this little space in the internet. I'll be back. I just have bigger and more important things to do and turn my attention to for the time being. I love you all and I have been so uplifted by your comments! Seriously, comments are the little bursts of energy that make blogging exciting sometimes. Its nice to know there are eyes out there and I'm not just chattering off to myself (although that might be safer sometimes.)

If you'd like to write me a letter or you know, send me this hoodie (jk) you can find my address under "contact". Please keep in touch friends!

November 2012 will be here before we know it and I'll be back!

Love love love,
Elle

Three Sizes That Day

My heart is growing bigger and bigger and stretching across the states.

There will always be a piece of it at home in California with my family and the streets I've seen since birth. The road to my Grandparent's house that I walked up after school every day. Slugs from Los Bagels (it's always the food that we miss the most). The passion that most everyone has for protecting the environment. The smell of ocean and redwoods and marijuana....(oh wait. I don't care for that part much).

But this girl can't be tied down to one place forever.

Idaho took a chuck and it won't let go. When I checked up on Brandilyn's blog the other day the glimpses of Main Street just made me want one more day having lunch at Great Harvest and a day of work cutting fabric at Porter's. One more afternoon in the Smith building watching snow fall instead of listening to a rhetoric lecture. One more spur of the moment trip to the hot springs in packed cars and good friends. Don't cry for me Madison  county. I bet i'll find my way back to you in the future.

And now as I am preparing for my mission I can't wait to meet the Paula Deen's that are waiting for me in Tennessee and Kentucky. I get mixed responses from people when I tell them I am moving there in just 2 months. Most are shocked that I'll be going so far and tell me how hard it will be (they have NO idea) and then of course they say something about Southern hospitality and that the people are so nice. It's amazing to me that I love the people I am going to serve without knowing anyone yet or anything about them. They are in my prayers and always on my mind. I wish these few months could just fly by!

Be prepared for future hearts to pop up on this map because I know there is so much more out there for me to explore and I plan on getting to it!

Shopping

Sucks. 

All of the energy out of me. 

But I have a lot of great clothes for my mission now! 

I took a trip down to San Francisco last week to stock up on past the knee length skirts and conservative but cute and comfy tops. It was nice to not feel guilty for just shopping all day because I really need almost a whole new wardrobe for the next year and a half. As I looked over the checklist before I went I really only had one gray skirt, one dress, and maybe 3 black and white shirts I could take. Hence the shop-o-rama that ensued. 

What I didn't expect was a lesson in humility. 

The dressing standard for sister missionaries has relaxed a little in the past year; hemlines have gone up from mid-calf to covering the knee when sitting and standing, colorful prints and patterns are ok, and nylons are optional!  I began my search on Union square at all of my favorite city spots like Anthropologie, H&M, Urban Outfitters, and Macy's hoping to find modest clothing that would be trendy. I don't want to be a frumpy frump boring dresser. I found only one shirt and one dress. It had been hours and I was frustrated that nothing was turning up. The only long skirts in style right now are these hideous 90's hippie things.

ew see for yourself.

I regrouped with my Uncle and his girly friend over fish and chips and prepared myself for another few hours of little luck. Instead we headed over to Ross (ironic because that is one of the very few stores we have in Eureka) and well, I found 3 perfect skirts, a top, and some low cut socks all for less than the price of my clearance sale dress from Anthro! 

After this success I realized that I had a poor mind frame for shopping for mission clothes. I'm not going to be spending a whole lot of time fussing around with cute fashionable things and the trends are going to change in the next 18 months. I don't even know what's in style in Tennessee and Kentucky and I'm really not prepared for the heat of a southern summer! As I stopped caring about the name brands on the labels inside of my clothing I was blessed to find what I needed at a much more reasonable price.

I stopped at the mall in Santa Rosa yesterday on my way back and scored on a bunch of really cute classy tops at Forever 21 (the one in Union Square is way too hectic to even attempt going in), PacSun, and Banana Republic. Um, hello? Three tops at Banana Republic for under $40? That was a serious blessing waiting for me right there!

So I ended up happy and spent far less than the average $1000 that we are told to prepare to spend. Bring on the 18 months of the 30x30 challenge!

So Close!

I got a filling today and scheduled my Bishop and Stake President interviews for Sunday afternoon and after that it will be just 2-3 weeks until I get my spot on the globe! We took my pictures for my mission application last Sunday and although this one is too silly to turn in I think it best represents how I feel. 

And a shot of my feet because it was a funny accident.

I created a new button and moved them to their own page so that they don't make a mess all over my blog page. It is to show off that you're writing to me! Because then you get a grinny smiley face on your blog to show off to your friends. And they'll be jealous and want it too. So they'll write me letters. And I'll be even happier! It's a cycle.

Mission Checklist

The ticking clock of mission papers looks something like this:

Paperwork: CHECK!

Dr. Visits: CHECK!

Dental Work: CHECK!

Eye Exam: CHECK!

Application Picture: CHECK!

Interviews: CHECK!

Hopefully it will all be done before the end of January! 

If you would like to learn more about my 18 month mission and the Gospel of Jesus Christ click here

That is the what but I don't know the where until my papers are all finished and submitted.

Update: January 16th, everything is done!

May I Have A Moment Of Silence?

Because I am about to share the most devastating yet ironically funny news of my week.  I have lots of appointments this week for my mission papers beginning this morning with a trip to the dentist. Here is a brief look at my dental history:

• 4 baby teeth pulled
• 2 adult teeth pulled 
• 4 wisdom teeth pulled
• total of 10 in all
• 4 years of braces
• only one cavity in adult teeth to date

So I go into the office expecting a normal check up, a need for a cleaning and then get outta there. Wrong-o.  Oh Elle Jane, you may brush your teeth every morning and every night like a champ, but you can not fight fate. Would you like to guess the grand total? 9. NINE! How did I go from having one filling to needing an entire mouth full of plaster??? It won't really be full of plaster because they are tiny ones that just need to be stopped before they spread but seriously? Is there nothing that I could have done to prevent this misfortune from falling upon me? 

Thanks to my insurance policy, or lack thereof, I was only covered until I was 21 so I'm just about a year too late on this one. Lucky me. Hopefully everything goes much smoother with the doctor and at least I'm covered until I'm 26.  

So kids, floss. Seriously.