Una noche Méxicana!

One of my friends and I had a MÉXICAN NIGHT!! We made a lot of our favorite Mexican foods, and they turned out really well! Cocinamos tacos de carne asada, al pastor, y chorizo, sopes, y por supuesto, mole! Los postres estaban arroz con leche, flan y panetón, y horchata y jarritos para tomar! It all tasted delicious! And also made me miss all the yummy foods in Mexico. :)

La nieva!

SNOW!!

Winter has officially arrived. And even though I don't particularly enjoy scraping the ice off of my car windshield in the mornings.... or slipping on the ice on campus...(it happens a lot more often than it should :) AND despite my hate (strong dislike may be a better term) for being cold, I must admit, it's BEAUTIFUL.




I sure love our Utah Mountains. They are beautiful, especially covered in freshly fallen sparkling white snow. Below is how I walk around campus.. ha cute, right? :) I am always dressed up at school in a skirt or dress pants (for work), BUT ... I've learned my lesson about wearing heels in the snow. And flats. hahah so these are my shoes of choice when it's snowy outside, then I change into my heels when I get to work!

HALLOWEEN!!!!

I love Halloween time, it's such a fun holiday. Dressing up in costumes, carving pumpkins, spooky decorations, and of course lots of candy. I heard on the radio the other day that during the Halloween season, candy sales in the US went up by 20 1/2 million dollars!! Crazy. They also said that the most popular candy was .... candy corn! YMMM. Alizae dressed up as a COWGIRL!! All her idea. So my mom found her some tight Wrangler jeans a button up shirt, and of course boots and a hat! She is adorable.

My mom, Alizae and I went to this Hallween carnival that they had at Dinosaur Park in Ogden, and we had a blast! Alizae really enjoyed getting candy from all of the different people, and my mom and I really liked all of the decorations and cute things they had throughout the park. Look at all of these pumpkins!

Above is my favorite picture of the entire night! Alizae and I were just taking silly pictures, and when my mom saw this character, she said "Take my picture with HIM!!"

This monkey is someone in a costume! I wish I had a costume like that... how much fun would that be. I would definitely NOT just stick it in the attic for every month except for October, I would use it all the time! Like to go to the grocery store. Or a ball game. Or the drive-thru at the bank! Ok... so the bank might not be the best place for that. But I think I could have a lot of fun with a monkey suit!

HALLOWEEN HALF MARATHON!!

I slacked off.... okay I ...REALLY slacked off on running while in Mexico!! so when I got home I started running again and training for this half marathon! It was on my birthday (the 30th) in Provo - and it turned out to be a really good race! I trained and ran with Ashley Thayne, she's a big part of the reason why I trained and actually finished the race - THANKS Ash!! Oh, I almost forgot. We wore costumes!! of course we wore costumes. I was Waldo and Ash was a devil-themed angel. :) There were over 2,500 runners, and everyone wore costumes so it was fun to see all of the CRAZY costumes! I don't think a few of them ebenthought about actually having to run in the costume though... hahah. The beginning of the race was pretty steep downhill, we dropped 2,000ft in the first 5 miles! Which made for some VERY sore muscles... I was walking like a 90 year old for the first couple of days! My legs are almost back to normal though... almost. :) My time was 2hours 27 minutes. Also, my mom and Alizae drove all the way down to Provo to support me and to cheer for me!! by far the BEST birthday present I received. It was so motivating to know that they would be waiting for me at the finish line, and cheering for me no matter how slow I was :) I love them!

We met at 6:30am for the race, and they bussed us up to the top of Alpine Loop, It was so beautiful up there! ... and extremely cold, hahah. BUT - focusing on the positive, it truly was so pretty - with the sun coming up over the snow capped mountains. They had a big heated tent that we waited in until the race start, and they even had a costume contest!


I had to take a picture of this, it was such a funny sight to me! This was at the start - bathrooms lined up one after the other, at LEAST 30!
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These are my clones! hahah there were quite a few Waldo's there, it was a fun costume. People would pass me in the race and say "Waldo, there you are! I've been looking for you for years!!" The waldo jokes never got old.

This was right at the finish line! I had probably 50 more yards to go. At the bottom of the picture is Ash's family and Nate Revo holding up a sign that said "HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESS!"



I got to see CANDACE!!!! Possibly the highlight of the entire race. She is one of the girls that I taught with in Mexico, and she lives in Provo going to BYU! So she came to cheer me on - it was so so good to see her! It made me realize how much I miss her and everyone and just Mexico in general. Thanks Candace! Below is me and Ash at the finish! with our sweet medals :)



"TRUNK-OR-TREAT"

In years passed, I have always been passively against this LAZY way of trick-or-treating referred to as TRUNK-OR-TREAT. Trunk or treating is where people have their cars all lined up, and you just walk from trunk to trunk, while the nice people just drop handfuls of candy into your bag. It looks smething like this: (Thanks to Google Images for this lovely photo)


Seriously, if kids expect to get a pillowcase full of candy - I think that they should be willing to work for it! I don't know if you can even call walking door to door WORK. Just saying.
But due to less than perfect weather conditions this Halloween... we gave in. My mom, Alizae and I went to a Trunk-or-Treat. AND... I enjoyed it. It was great!! So much fun, we loved it. My brother Jake and his girlfriend Kinzie were handing out candy - and as you can see from the following pictures, their costumes were AMAZING! Jake was an old man and Kinz was Wonder Woman.

Work and other aspects of my life :)

At work we all dressed up as Waldo also! A lot of people who came in thought it was really clever... others were just really confused! And.. wanna hear something ironic?? Check out this link. Apparently this man tried to rob a bank, dressed as Waldo! hmmm.

My birthday was last week! My day of birth. I am officially 21. I had a really good birthday - full of family, friends and way too much running haha.

AND... Guess who called me for my birthday??? (...drumroll please.....) MY HOST FAMILY!!! Mi familia Mexicana. I was SO happy to talk to them, I miss them a lot! It was Sandra who called, and I got to talk to Christian and Emilio as well. I am SO grateful that I was able to meet them, and share 4 months of their lives with them. Memories that will last a life time, relationships that I will cherish forever, and an experience I will NEVER forget. A mi familia que estan en México, te extraño MUCHIIIISIMO! :)

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Well, October is OVER! It is officially November, which marks the end of the wonderful Fall season as far as I'm concerned. It's crazy how fast time is flying by - I have been home from Mexico for 3 months already! and have almost completed a full semester of school. I only have about one more month left in this semester, I am so excited to reach the end.... NEVER again will I burden myself with 17 credits!! Lesson learned.

FALL!!

First off, I think this post may be a little late, since it has been looking more and more like winter lately... but better late than never, right? :)
I love autumn, it is my favorite time of year for so many reasons! Perfect temperature, beautiful colors, Halloween time, my birthday month of course, and it's just a really fun time of year. I love watching the leaves change and the cool fall weather.




This picture (above) is overlooking Ogden, taken at the top of a hike I went on. I loved watching the city change as the sun went down, it went from a bright sky and a dark city to just the opposite - a dark sky and a bright city, with a beautiful sunset in between.



I got to go to a ROPES CHALLENGE course up in Logan with Matthew Ralphs, it was a really fun date! They had all kinds of challenges and obstacle-like courses, that tested your teamwork, trust, and courage! One of my favorites was the platform jump, which you can see in the picture above. If you look closely you can see someone standing on that little platform at the top of the tower, and the challenge was to jump straight out.. into NOTHING, and try to reach the ring. SO scary! It seemed SO much higher when I was actually standing on that tiny little platform. It was fun though, and definitely a growing experience.





Here are two of my very favorite things, my niece ALIZAE and playing la guitarra. Alizae likes to sing with me while I play, her favorite is "Leavin' on a Jet Plane". :) Alizae is 6 now, and is in the 1st grade at PC Elementary, and is doing so good! She is such a fun girl, I am SO SO grateful for her in my life, I sure love her. I also love having an excuse to watch the Disney Channel and Hannah Montana, and to listen to music like the Jonas Brothers, hahah.



HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my Grandma! Her birthday was Oct 3rd. We had a little party for her with most of the family, I always enjoy spending time with my grandma.



It's almost HALLOWEEN!!!! I am so excited. Here is a picture of the pumpkin I carved... probably my best effort yet! shhh....I used a stencil. But still! I surprised myself.

ALSO, the day before Halloween (also my 21st birthday!) I will be running a HALF MARATHON!! 13.1 miles. I am excited, but a little nervous! I am running it with my friend Ashley Thayne, and her bf Josh. And we are wearing costumes!! Waldo? or a football player. Still trying to decide.

7 years.

It has been SEVEN years ago today since my dad recieved his HEART TRANSPLANT in 2003. I can't believe that it has been that long. But I do know one thing, I am SO grateful for my dad in my life! We are so blessed and lucky to have him still here with us. I love him.

September 13, 2003. We were on our way to an AYSO soccer game- I was 13, Jake was 12, and we were both dressed in our soccer jersey's and shin guards, all ready for our games. We were driving down 4700 w. around 10am, and that's when my mom's cell phone rang! It was the call that we had been hoping and praying for for months. My mom flipped a U-turn before the phone call had ended, we rushed to the hospital, and after a 12 hour surgery with a whole team of doctor's, my dad had a new heart.

Life is fragile. We are so blessed to live in such an amazing time when and skilled medical professionals perform miracles EVERY DAY, a full heart transplant in my dad's case. These men and women save thousands of lives, and make it possible for people like ME to enjoy the incredible and priceless blessing of still having my father.

Life is good.

Lately.

Missing Mexico.

I really miss Mexico! I love being home, but it was really hard to let go of my life and familia there. Some nights I just sit in bed for hours going through all of my pictures and just remembering how AMAZING this last summer was... If I could rewind time and relive this last summer I would do it in a second. Before Mexico, I never thought that it was possible to grow to love so many people so much, and so deeply, in such a small amount of time- only 3 short months. But it happened. And it was the BEST summer of my life! I made so many memories that I will never forget, became BEST friends with some amazing girls - all of which I look up to very much, AND (as if the things I've listed already wasn't enough) I was lucky enough to have had the opportunity to be a part of the most caring, generous, giving, and truly loving family. My family is what I miss the MOST. I am SO blessed! Here are a few pictures of my very favorite people, I love them all so much!

"There's no place like HOME, and there's nothing else like FAMILY."

I am finally back home, and it has been so good to be back with my family! I really missed them... SO much! Here are just a few pictures from what I have been up to lately, and adventures with friends and family since I've been home.

A bit of free time + collective creativity genius + a mac = this video. Enjoy :)

This is one of my best friends, ASHLEY THAYNE! She was there waiting at the airport when my plane came in, along with my wonderful mom, my niece Alizae, my brother Jake and his girlfriend Kinzie, Megan Jones, Kayla Orton Postak and her husband Jesse! It was so good to see everyone, and to have so many of the most important people in my life there at the airport waiting for me. It's so good to be home!

The Saturday after I got back, my niece Alizae and I went up on the overpass (our very favorite spot!!) and had lunch. It was so much fun, I love that girl so much. Our favorite part of the overpass is trying to get the cars and semi's to honk at us, by waving our arms and dancing, and I must say, we were pretty successful this time! :)








While in Mexico, I unconsciously made mental notes of things that I missed about home, things that I wanted to be sure to do when I got back home. The list is SO random! and fairly extensive, and full of simple things that I just LOVE to do. Lunch on the overpass: Check. Feeding the ducks: Check.

Driving around Ogden with 2 of my very best friends with .....an airhorn.... CHECK! Contrary to popular belief, a simple airhorn can be the source of hours and hours of fun and so many memories. :) Just ask Meg or Marz!

Getting ice cream at my very favorite place: CHECK!! x3. I think I might have had withdrawls from this place, I L-O-V-E it. Zeppe's, I'm glad we've been reunited.

I got to go to the Raptor's game with Ash, it was a fun night! Ya gotta love the good 'ol American pasttime, baseball. When they sang The National Anthem at the beginning of the game, I almost started tearing up, it was beautiful. I am more grateful now than I EVER have been to have been born and raised in the U.S. of A.

Below, the OGDEN TEMPLE! I am so lucky to live so close to such a wonderful place, literally a piece of heaven on earth. I love how beautiful the temple looks against the stormy dark sky, I think you could find a lot of symbolism in that! No matter how dark and stormy the world and our lives may get at times, the temple is always there as a shining example of everything good, and everything that I am working towards.



MY BROTHER BOUGHT A HOUSE!!
Yes, he BOUGHT a house. Crazy huh, considering that he is 19. He has worked SO hard on it for the last few months, and it is really coming along, it looks GREAT. He is such a hard-worker and I look up to him a lot. Here are a few pictures of the kitchen and stairs that he just finished building.

This is all of the Barker side of my family, and the first time in a little while that we have been able to get everyone together! So many people in this picture mean so much to me, and I am so blessed to have such wonderful people to call family.



The OVERPASS! again. I love that place. I went with Matthew Ralphs, my cousin Marian set us up on a date. It was really fun, though I think Matt might have thought my choice of location a little CRAZY. Ha.

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This is ASHLEY! For her protection, I won't put her last name in case someone in the profession of law enforcement sees this picture, because I'm fairly positive that it is NOT legal. Ha but it was fun! Look how happy she is, she is having the time of her life on that horse.


I got my picture taken with the RAPTOR himself! Hahah how lucky am I. :) This is Matt Ralphs, he came down from Logan to go to the game with me, so nice.



And, last but not least.... STAR VALLEY!!!

Over Labor Day weekend I went to Starvalley with my mom and my niece to see my Grandma Barker. I have been to Star Valley every summer since before I can remember, but I was in Mexico when my family went this time! It was such a fun weekend, and so fun to spend time with my grandma at her place up there. SO many memories.

[pictures to come, I've had a few technical problems. But they're coming! Don't you worry. ]