City Lights

  Today i decided i would get a little adventurous and explore the city by myself. I had an amazing second day. In Minnesota they have a light rail that takes you to the airport, Mall of America, downtown and a couple of other places that is conveniently located right by the hotel that we are staying at. I was a little nervous about getting lost but im getting the hang of it. I'm pretty much pro the second day. Also people are very friendly on the light rail..maybe a little too much.

    Have i mentioned that i LOVE the weather? I don't miss salt lake city's bitter cold. Its very humid here but i would take that any day rather than the cold. To start my day i hopped on the light rail and started my trip to downtown. I'm only about 20 minutes away and the ride there is very scenic i was in awe of how green everything is. It really reminds me of Florida! It has the same green and swampy characteristics even the feel of Minnesota is similar. 

 First off downtown Minneapolis is GORGEOUS! I was shocked at all the different architectural buildings they had downtown. It was very modern VS Gothic if that makes sense at all. I quickly realized how big of a bubble that i have been in Utah after ten minutes of walking around. I didn't think i would have such a big of a cultural shock as i have since i have been here. My favorite part of downtown was all the characters on the corner singing..think American idol rejects. I loved it! This one character had on this elaborate skirt of patched that he had taped together with silver mask tape. The classiest part was him playing his accordion singing about his boyfriend. I had to stop and watch for awhile :) They have a lot of hip restaurants with tables on the side walk as well! I'm thinking a girls night is definitely in order soon as soon as we can all get in one place.

      I started off today feeling very alone and kind of unsure about the new changes that were happening all around me. On the light rail home i had the greatest sense of peace and reassurance that this experience would be another one that would shape me and make me the person that i am suppose to be. There is something so rewarding and empowering when you throw yourself into a situation where everything is brand new and unknown.

When i got back to the hotel my lovely roommate was home and we decided to venture out and grab some dinner. We ended up eating at the Cadillac Grill which is like a hip country western restaurant. I was impressed and stuffed by the time our girl talk and dinner was done. I really love that girl i never get sick of her southern drawl and all of her crazy sayings. To end my perfect day we stopped at cinnabon and ordered "the middle" seriously? who was the genius that thought of that? I love you!

Land of a Thousand Lakes...

Minnesota. I still cant believe i am here. Minnesota and i have a complicated relationship already. I cant get over how far away i am from family and yes Adam :)  My flight was a little over two hours and i arrived here at 11:29 ready to start my new adventure. The airport probably would have been a little easier if i hadn't of packed 130 pounds of clothes i swear there were dead bodies in all three of my bags! I checked in at the Hyatt which is a really nice hotel that my work is paying for until the first. I was greeted by Ashley who has turned into one of my best friends since training. When ash and i are together there is never a dull moment so i was relieved to see someone familiar in this state.

Today we ended up exploring "Mall of America" i cant get over how big it was! Also the muslim population is HUGE here.RANDOM. They were everywhere i couldnt get over it maybe i have been in utah too long. Minnesota is growing on me a bit .. the humidity is horrible and I'm still feeling like my heart is in Utah but i am excited to start working and see everything Minnesota has to offer!

  The girls ended the day with a glass of wine while i ended mine with pomegranate berry juice mix. Wild i know..i really need to calm down. I cant wait to see what adventure tomorrow brings!

California Loving -

   After training was done my wonderful boyfriend convinced me to be spontaneous and use the two weeks i had off to visit our families... after some convincing i agreed and the next day we were on our way to California! I hate being all lovey and mushy but those 8 hours felt like 3.. hes pretty much the best person to road trip with :)

   This was the first time we were going to "officially meet each others family" since we have been dating. It went really well...so well that my brothers and sisters enjoyed Adam more than me being there. Adam was a hit with Garron who never wanted to leave his side and was "determined to beat up a cop". ( me too Garron, me too) Garron also let us know while Adam was down that he wanted his wife to look just like him. Confused? welcome to the Sandkamps!

 

 

  Adam and I snuck away for a day and ended up in Oceanside. I swear San Diego California will always be my favorite place!

  Meeting Adams family went just as well! Meeting "the family" has always been stressful for me i have met some "winners" that have me running when it comes to taking it to the next level and getting to know the parents. Adams mom is the sweetest lady i have ever met! Watching him and his brothers was not only entertaining but really let me see Adam in a new way. ( Which is crazy since we have known each other for eight years) the love that the McDermotts have for each other is admirable. We were able to take a beach trip and go to Disneyland with them i had a blast and have never felt more at home.

  I also had the pleasure of meeting Adams adorable nieces and nephew. I had so much fun playing with Madison (the oldest) she has quite the imagination and loved to talk :) Madison showed us this letter she wrote one night and had Adam and i sign it..i guess this means i got the approval from his niece? too cute!

I swear i had to be dragged back to Utah! I never wanted to leave California i have never wanted to be home as bad as i have this year. On the way back we saw one of my best friends and her family! They took us to the Tucan Theater and then we did a little hiking. They also showed us their family "Mabin" ( Cabin/Mansion) It looked like it should have been on an episode of cribs! Gorgeous! I had to laugh because even after all these years amanda is still the crazy girl i got into trouble with in high school. It was surreal watching her with her two babies and husband. Where has the time gone?

27 Dresses

I had been anticipating training for months.. I felt like a little kid at Christmas the night before my first day. I HAD NO IDEA WHAT I WAS GETTING IN TO. The next 27 days would be the most emotionally and physically exhausting thing i had ever experienced. Its the craziest thing to work so hard at something knowing that everyday you were proving your spot there.  Heavenly father and i got very cozy those 27 days i remember thinking at least once a day "if you let me pass this i will never..." needless to say i have a lot of promises to keep :) Graduation was so rewarding and i felt like a huge weight was lifted!I don't know how i would have got through training without my amazing boyfriend and the girls in my class!

So not all of training was torture. I would be lying if i didn't say that i had the time of my life and have so many memories to this day that still make me smile and laugh out loud. I met the most amazing girls who knew exactly what i was going through and were just as worn out as i was. Our days were draining..but somehow every night was a blast. From going on missions for flowers for mothers day, watching my roommate "dawn" black eye liner on her face because apparently criminals do that..(not football players), picking my hall roomie off the floor and out of a cart while she did her experiments, going dancing, all of our awesome lunch and dinner dates, playing the price is right while we learned about four different aircraft, listening to our lovely vocal neighbors ( by the way his name was Doug) , counting how many pairs of nylons we went through every week, facebook time with my roommate,