Thankful List

I love the month of November. Really, I just love this time of year. So many things to be grateful for:

canned pumpkin (there are an endless amount of desserts you can make with 1 can of pumpkin)

well timed phone calls from family members

new job position

old and new friends

prayer

nuts 4 nuts

opportunities to progress

i-pod car game (best road trip game ever!)

Today I am especially thankful for three specific things:

1. sleep

2. zicam tablets, even though they leave an awful taste in your mouth

3. orange juice

National Adoption Month!

Every November is National Adoption month, a month set aside to raise awareness about the adoption of children and youth from foster care. This year's focus is directed towards adoption recruitment and ways to retain parents for the 115,000 children and youth in foster care awaiting adoptive families. This year's theme is, "You don't have to be perfect to be a perfect parent, kids don't need perfection, they need you."

In efforts to bring awareness to the foster care program in the District of Columbia, join in on the BET Documentary showing of eight beautiful girls and their journey to South Africa. If you have interest in going, let me know!

NYC Bound

Today I am headed to the big apple with a few friends. I have a meeting that starts in 30 minutes. As soon as that is over, I am off. I get super nostalgic whenever I visit the city. I love driving through the Lincoln tunnel, and as soon as you're out...bam! You've arrived. The nuts 4 nuts on every street corner, gray's papaya, the city lights, china town--dvd, dvd, dvd, coach, prada, you want? follow me-- empire state building, streets lined with skyscrapers, stores that I wish I had money to shop in, Bryant park, street vendors selling random junk, potential celeb sightings, corn-on-the cob from Cafe Habana, rats in the subway. The list could go on and on. I love this place. I can hardly believe it has almost been four years since I lived there. Many of my friends have since moved away. Thankfully, my friend Sarah is there and agreed to let us come visit!

On the Agenda:

Brooklyn Bridge/Brooklyn Farmer's Market

Shopping at my favorite department store, Century 21.
Banana Creme Pudding at Magnolia's Bakery--oh, it's been so long!
Hopefully tickets to see this great show!
I can't think of a better way to ring in the holiday season!! NYC here I come!!!!!!

BET Documentary

Watching the clip below brings back so many wonderful memories of my South Africa trip. BET International documented the girls journey from the US to South Africa and captured the experience in a 30 minute, two-part docu-series which is scheduled to air Sunday, October 3rd and 10th at 7:30pm. The series will air in 54 countries (including Europe,Africa and the Middle East). Although the program will not air in the United States (yet), you can visit the XOL webiste: www.extra-ordinarylife.org –where the 30 minute clip will be posted.

I MISS SOUTH AFRICA!!!!!!!!!

This makes me happy

There is something about little girls with pigtails on the first day of school. It's a must. And of course a princess backpack, also a must. According to my sister, my little niece Haley, was so excited for her first day!! I think back to all the preparations that went in to the beginning of a new school year. Often times my family would take a trip to Seattle or Portland to go school shopping. We each got to pick out a few new outfits for the upcoming school year. We would take our purchases back to the hotel and have a fashion show. My sisters and I loved that. I kind of wish that tradition continued in my professional life. Don't worry, items of clothing are definitely still purchased, just on my own dime, unfortunately.

I loved when teachers would mail home the school supply list, and we got to go pick everything out at the store. My favorite part was picking out my Lisa Frank or Hello Kitty folders. Why I thought unicorn art was so cool, I don't know. It just was (is).

So Haley, I share your excitement! I remember those days, and being a student was the best!

Saturday is a SPECIAL day

BYU Football 2010 TV Commercial from BYU Athletics on Vimeo.

"Happy Days Hawkins, Happy Days"

Mickelsen Family goes to Washington...and Gettysburg, and Palmyra, and New York City!!!

I love my family. I love that they come to visit me. I will admit however, I was a little leery when they started sharing some of their ideas about our east coast family vacation. When they said they wanted to visit DC, Gettysburg, Palmyra, and NYC in a week, I got a little nervous. Did they know that DC to Palmyra was at least an 8 hour drive? Did they remember they were only visiting for one week?? I gently reminded them that we would be spending a decent portion of our trip in the car. Turns out, this was one of the things they were looking forward to most of all. Now that the trip is over, I would not have had it any other way. Mickelsen's go big or go home. Thus I share with you, what turned out to be a week of 7 adults acting like we were children again.

Case in point #1: Dad sporting his "bug face" for the camera. This face never gets old.

#2. We could totally pass for some Bronx ballers. On our train ride to Yankee Stadium we strategized how we could teach our bronx brothas a lesson or two on the court. We are such dreamers...but it sounds so realistic in our heads!
#3. I made Stephen practice taking pictures showing his teeth. After a few trial shots, this was the grand finale. He looks pretty good to me. Don't you just love older sisters?!
#4. The Bug Kingdom will never die. Whether it's singing a hymn at church and chuckling as we sing the word ear, or seeing an actual ear artifact at the Statue of Liberty, the boys can always take a moment to feel ears. I know this may sound a little crazy to you, well, it is crazy.
#5. I promise we took Gettysburg seriously. We just got a little distracted in the gift shop.

We had a wonderful visit while in Palmyra, NY. It was neat to share this experience with my siblings.

Other highlights of the trip included:

Going to the top of the Empire State Building (this was a first for me!). (Tangent: we may or may not have played, Jay-Z's, "Empire State of Mind," when we first drove into the city. The modern version of Frank's, New York, New York).

Seeing the Lion King on Broadway.
Seeing Phantom of the Opera on Broadway.
The Manhattan Temple right by Lincoln Center.

My parents fell in love with Nuts 4 Nuts. Who can't help falling in love with them? They are a nyc favorite. We also stopped at Rice to Riches, Carmines for some yummy Italian, Deluxe Diner (my old Columbia stomping ground), and made sure to have nyc style pizza, a couple of times :)

Thanks to Mom & Dad for making this trip happen and coming to visit me! I heart our family!!!

This is NOT okay!

One thing I will NOT miss about the summer--mosquitoes. These pictures do not adequately describe the discomfort I've experienced this past week. Thank goodness for Chelsea and her after bite relief stick.

Just a thought...

I spent July 5-17 in South Africa with the girls pictured above. It was a long trip. By the end, I was dreaming of my own bed, and trying to remember what it was like to be by myself. I felt so far removed from my life here. In the midst of late nights, teen drama, and emotional overload, I was reminded of an important lesson: recognize the divine nature and individual worth of each and every youth. It is easy to lose sight of this. Too often my interactions with youth are focused around what they didn't do, or should have done. Why didn't you enroll in school? Why didn't you meet with your probation officer? Why didn't you come to Court? Why can't you show more gratitude? While these are important tasks and goals to review with youth, I would suggest it is of greater importance to recognize their strengths and show them an increase of love. The beautiful women I interacted with on this trip are fragile, and have had tragic/horrific life experiences. Their lives have lacked the stability and outpouring of love we far too often take for granted. It is amazing how much influence an adult can have on a child. Something as simple as a compliment, would change their entire mood for the evening. I am not married and do not have children. I attend a single's ward, and rarely get to interact with youth in my stake. Although I interact with the youth on my caseload, I must abide by appropriate boundaries. With that said, I think it is important to seek out ways to influence children/youth for good. An insignificant amount of time spent with a child more than likely will yield immeasurable results; both for the child and the mentor. As my father often reminded me, "Where much is given, much is required."

The Reasons Why I've neglected my blog...

A. Brian's presence. Yes, we have a 5th roommate who happens to be my younger brother. Brian is camping out in my basement and working for a political think tank. Brian enjoys facilitating political discussion in the household, especially with Chelsea aka "Buzz". Although his stay is temporary, Brian has successfully managed to dazzle the ladies of the Colonial 1st ward. He has vigorously played the role of "protective brother", relying on his intellectual superiority and whit to intimidate potential men in my life (Brian maybe had something to do with that sentence). In the beginning, Brian was skeptical of living with four other women. Now he claims to have adopted three additional sisters. He especially enjoys the Sunday afternoon cooking lessons with Mel, dating debriefs with Al (Allison), and restlessly laboring away his Saturdays mowing the lawn we like to call our "forest". Naturally, Brian has gravitated towards the "georgetown" nightlife. Arriving in D.C. alone did not phase young Brian. The first of his friends was a sorority girl named Jamie he met on the metro and a Pakistani he befriended in the GW[U] library. Let's just say he occupies a lot of our time and attention.

B. A visit to WA to visit my fam. While I was home, I got to attend Jeff's graduation. We made sure Jeff knew his family was in attendance by sporting Southridge Sun yellow t-shirts, including our individual family nicknames. I think he was at least a tad bit amused. I thought we were funny. I also got to spend time doing what I do best--maintaining my role as favorite aunt. Do you see how they light up in my presence?

C. Mt Hood. We were determined to get on that mountain. Not even an avalanche warning could stop us. The countless days spent at Gold's on the stair stepper in our hiking boots, multiple trips to REI, and preparation hikes in the Shenandoah's all paid off. It was absolutely breath taking on the mountain. The climb itself, was actually not as physically demanding as I expected. However, there were a few moments when I questioned my decision to climb a mountain. When were were harnessed together on our rope, climbing what seemed to be completing vertical, along side a cliff, I maybe started to freak out inside. Thankfully, we all made it down the mountain safely and lived to tell the tale of the Hood Ratz. Much thanks to Papa Smart for his patience, expertise, and mountaineering gear. We could not have done it without him.

D. MV. When a friend asks you to accompany her on a weekend trip to Martha's Vineyard to stay in her friend's beach house, you don't turn that down. After pulling an all night drive to the cape, and sleeping through our entire ferry ride, we finally arrived to MV. Shandi and I took full advantage of the opportunity to sport our prepster/nautical outfits. It was a perfect, relaxing weekend get-a-way.

E. Birthday BBQ Bash. My roommates planned a great birthday bbq for me and my dear friend, Regina. It was a great summer evening with friends. Highlights of the night: the photo board including my Rihanna haircut in the 4th grade, Adriel's famous blueberry cupcakes, and the best gift ever--BOCCE BALL! Brian, keep mowing that lawn, b/c we have some bocce ball to play this summer!

F. South Africa. I feel as though this trip deserves its own post. I LOVED it. Most definitely an experience of a lifetime. I loved the people and was touched by their humility and generosity. The trip was a perfect balance of exploring the tourist hot spots, and getting a feel for everyday life in SA. Joburg was alive with fans from all over the world visiting for the World Cup. I loved meeting with professionals from the Joburg Child Welfare System and sharing/comparing experiences. I loved observing our girls (8 DC foster care youth) experience a new place. A favorite moment of the trip had to be on the safari, watching a female cheetah devour an Impala with her four cubs. I was literally 5 feet from this animal.

I would say these are pretty good reasons for neglecting my blog.

You know you are friends when...

You come out wearing matching pj's --FNL t-shirts, and navy sweats. Love it. We got a good laugh over this. Jake, we miss our 5th roommate already (and have ran out of diet coke). Can't wait for July!

Hi. I'm 12-years-old

Yep. Went with the blue polish today. Pretty sure they won't be asking me to be a hand model anytime soon :)