We Alexander's pride ourselves on being productive. Ha ha, folks who truly know me understand I have to battle laziness daily. So any day we get many things accomplished brings joy to my soul. Today was a good day though, we made up for the date night we went on Monday (shopped around at Ross, ate at Maggiano's and watched The Maze Runner). Tonight we had a few things to do, so we took it easy and hung around the house to get things done, to relax in a different way. Want to know what we did all day?

*worked 9 hours (G+L)

*started cooking  (G)

*went visiting teaching  (L)

*washed dishes  (G)

*finished cooking  (L)

*ran to Publix  (G)

*cleaned the living room  (L)

*ate delicious chicken tacos (G+L)

*cleaned kitchen  (G+L)

*went to the gym  (G+L)

*filed a complain against Sonic  (G+L)

*worked on some homework (L)

    A wonderful night's sleep is all we need to wrap up this evening :)

    (This is a "grilled cheese" we picked up at Sonic. I can't fathom how anyone could feel it okay to serve such nonsense! It is so incredibly annoying. Understand the complaint part now?)

This Weekend I...

    At the last minute on Saturday at 10 am, I decided "what the heck- I should just go home." I downloaded an audiobook, packed a Sunday outfit and left my apartment. 

     Boy, am I glad I did! I managed to spend time with my parents, brothers, 6 Grandparents, all first cousins and nearly all aunts and uncles! I visited my cousin Henry Mizell, my neighbor all my life, in his home who has a pretty bad form of cancer. I made bouquets, bouteneers and played paparazzi for those destined for homecoming. I ate the most tasty fried pickles of all time. I delivered the outfit to Kellan I purchased for him. I snuggled all sorts of babies at church. I went and went and went. 30 hours in total, and they were so worth it. 

    Therapeutic. I love, love, love Douglas, Georgia and all that is there :)

That Time I Threw Up on the Coral Reef

    As we left our little bungalow in Key Largo. 

   Monday morning, Labor Day, was a day I was looking forwards to and dreaded simultaneously. The highlight of the day: snorkeling, a 4 hour trip of it! Considering Graham had only went once in 6th grade and I had never went, I was ready to go full blown Dora the Explorer mode. Unfortunately after snorkeling we had to make the 6 hour drive home, in order to be at work the next day, so it was like a give and take kind of thing.

    We had snacks prepared, a towel and oodles of energy. We stepped on the boat and things were good. It took an hour to get 5 miles from shore, all the while we stood at the front of the boat, eagerly letting the water splash all over our legs and, occasionally, faces. I sung songs from Celine Dion to Graham as we reenacted Titanic. It was glorious.  

    When time came to add on the gear, I was ready. We were given small life jackets, flippers, masks and snorkeling mouthpieces (whatever the heck those are called). When we were given access to leave the boat I was one of the first people off, Graham however was slow poking. As I watched everyone swim past me I couldn't believe there was a hold up, so I pleaded with him and then scolded him, ready to go. Finally we were off to the coral reef! As soon as we were there Graham kept hanging back, so I went off on my own as I scoured the reef for interesting fish and plant-life. Eventually Graham told me that water was seeping into his mask, so he couldn't enjoy a thing. I felt pretty guilty since I had been pretty selfish until then, so I tried to fix the mask, it broke! Woops. So we swam back to the all the way boat for a replacement. The distance wasn't exceptionally far, but enough to wear me out after making the trip. While he jumped aboard I just relaxed in the ocean, since the captain threw me a noodle to rest my feet on. After a minute or so Graham jumped in and we were off again. As we started to swim, I suddenly felt like the way back to the reef was so far away. Out of the blue (pun?), I began to feel incredibly nauseous. Graham, who had missed out of all previous adventures, was ready to make it up by searching now. I waved him on and couldn't fathom why I felt so miserable all of a sudden. He dove and inspected, having a great time. I slowly paddled over and took that stupid mouthpiece away from my face, it was making me more sick than anything. I explained how I felt to Graham, so he decided we should say a prayer. About 4 words into the prayer I couldn't hold back and retched all over. 

    Yup. You aren't legally allowed to touch the coral reef and I just threw up all over it. Yup, of course I did.

    After that I felt pretty horrible, my stomach wouldn't settle and I kept feeling the urge to gag, but we payed $40 bucks and I couldn't just swim back! So onward we looked, despite feeling super nauseated. When the horn blew signaling us to get back to the boat my heart rejoiced. While Graham wanted to slowly trudge back I was on "full steam ahead" mode, ready to get out of the lapping waves.

    Graham snorkeling near the statue of Jesus.

    Finally climbing on the boat was weird, the rocking, usually not an issue for me, must have paved the way for sea sickness because I spent the next bit traveling next to fellow ladies who didn't gain sea legs as we took turns leaning our heads over the boat to gag or whatever else. 

    And pretty much, that's what happened throughout the duration of the trip. I couldn't get the strength to jump off the boat so I stayed aboard for the remaining two expeditions. I really wanted to see the underwater statue of Jesus, but that was where the waves were the most rough and there was no way I was getting off. All in all, I was pretty disappointed (and even now wish I had of at least attempted to go) but I did manage to get sick at every stop, so who knows how miserable I would have been actually in the water. One time I figured maybe not having any food in my belly was the problem, so I bit into a cheezit and immediately threw it back up. It was a sad experience.

    Different people took turns staying on the boat during the excursions after everyone seemed to have little blips of headaches, blisters, sunburn, etc. At the same time, everyone also had a pretty enjoyable experience. The first two hours were awesome for me! Just the remaining ones were horrible. On the boat ride home Graham and I actually put our heads together and slept. The whole day was very exhausting. 

   I really hope I don't have perpetual sea sickness? Is that even a thing? My father said, "oh it's all in your mind!" Wrong, it was real, I definitely feel more compassionate towards people with motion sickness now. (By the way, I never have it and Graham constantly does, ironically he had a great time minus a little spurt of nausea.) So now I'm ready to try snorkeling again. After this hapless adventure... Let's just say I need to redeem myself!

     HA. This is what a long snorkeling excursion sans sunscreen and energy loos like. 

Pre- Labor Day Events

    Labor Day weekend was up for grabs. We discussed Atlanta for a but eventually picked the Florida Keys. It seems as if our street is bustling with active LDS members nowadays, most attend our ward and we see on a regular basis. We Alexander's joined forces l with another set of Alexander's and a set of Secrist's, all fellow neighbors for this voyage.

    Our game plan was fairly clear- Ft Lauderdale temple, Miami Beach, snorkeling in Key Largo. We Alexander's rode together and started the forsaken dang drive Friday afternoon, about 4.5 hours, to get to the first night to pit stop in Ft Lauderdale. Early enough we attended the newly built temple Saturday morning. Due to some strange scheduling we missed the endowment session but were able to fulfill other ordinances. 

    We were finished all were famished, so we decided to snag some food. Jared had a specific craving for a restaurant they tried before named Ally's; let me tell you: you ever get in that area get your bohonkus to that place! The omelettes! The grits! The bagels! All mouth wateringly delicious. Yum. Soon after, we made a beeline for South Beach in Miami. I'll be honest, I've visited it before (last April) and I knew I wasn't the biggest fan. Number one- too many folks, especially high number of speedo and thong wearers. But the water is always flawless, perfectly clear and spot- on temperatures for a blazing day. We met up with said Secrist's, who basically brought all you'll ever need on the beach (tent, water hug, a snack, inner tubes, chairs; a big ole braaavo you guys) and seemed to swim all day. Though, to be fair, I did shy away from being in the water exclusively due to a lack of sunscreen. Plus what if I get hit with a bad case of heat palpitations? No thank you. 

    Fairly late in the day we packed up to go towards hotel #2. It was here that Graham and I rinsed all of the gross sand from our hair, a must if I've been in the beach. We mosied on over to a restaurant called The Lime (I think) in one car, the two tallest fellas in the front, the remaining hombre and two preggo ladies in the back and I sat on the floor (pretty comfortably, surprisingly). This restaurant let me down biiig time- they carried the worse quesadilla ever :( It was served with cheddar cheese- come on now!, really? The queso was quite perfect, however. 

    Sunday Morning we dropped into an interesting Spanish and English combined branch (did anyone else know these existed? Apparently they do!) where they switch every other week to be able to be fair to everyone to attend. If you're not bilingual, 5 out of 6 of us traveling, they have headsets available with a translator to make it a spiritual experience. It turned out that we came on the English week, so only the prayers, every other song and 1 sacrament prayer was offered in Spanish. It was certainly a cool experience! I wish we had one locally so I could learn Spanish fluently. We ended up finding our way into a Sunday School class very reminiscent of one offered by a Travis Jewell, from my teenage years. 

    Then we were destined to make it to Key Largo! Back in about '97 I used to put the Trolls sing-along VHS into the box tv found in room 110 at Amelia By the Sea, where I would chortle "Aruba, Jamaica, Ooh I wanna take you, Bermuda, Bahama! Come on pretty Mama! Key Largo, Montego! Baby why don't we go..." And now, me, going! Woohoo! So, Key Largo was a lot different from what I thought it would be.  There were zero waves, for starters, which gave it more a lake feel as opposed to an ocean. The water was clear but most portions weren't crystal, as I thought they would be like Miami. I think it just had a very different feel from an actual beach, which I had heard but refused to believe. But it was fairly nice, it even upped the ante by housing large iguanas, two of which we witnessed from a distance. 

    After trailing down to Islamorada, (another island down the Keys, see above) for an hour or so, we stopped at a beachfront restaurant. It was more picturesque than the actual place! It was darling, but we totally left it in the dust for DQ/Papa John's. Afterwards we crashed in our cute little bungalow, all the while our neighbor's dog went ballistic! Animals, man, yuck. My story for Labor Day is pretty decent, I'll touch on it later :)

Taking the Boys to Epcot

    After Utah, August just ran right on by. I blinked and it was over! 

    So my remaining siblings, Acey and Granger, are spoiled with a fine taste in all things Disney. Graham and I have annual passes, which expire this weekend, so we have been to Disney multiple times to get good use out of them. Eventually, I concocted a plan involving my bros, Epcot and myself- and called it good. August 22nd the two of them, with our cousin Blade in tow drove all the way to Callahan to meet me. (I mean, like, they hardly be called little brothers anymore, ugh, so weird.) They jumped in to join us and away to Orlando we went. They're good fun and were all in high spirits, so we had a fun trip driving. I demanded that we go drop by the Temple, since Blade hadn't seen it. It just makes my heart swell, knowing how great they are to our Heavenly Father's plan. 

    Onward we trudged: we had a room picked out at the Hawthorn, near Disney with free breakfast and a shuttle bus. So we whisked off to get ourselves situated for the following day. I originally wanted to book a place inside of Disney World, but for crying out loud, they're so colossally expensive, tacking on fees by claiming it's a resort and strict limitations regarding the numbers of individuals. I warned everyone not to be underwhelmed by the hotel, luckily the opposite occurred "Wow! This is so nice!! I thought this wasn't Disney?" The entire place was decorated in paraphernalia of Disney World, which was so perfectly set up, and it fooled them in an instant. Finally about 30 minutes after midnight we all crashed into our beds for a night's rest.

    By 7:30 we jerked out of bed, ran to get breakfast and pack everything up. Our shuttle bus was leaving at 8:30, with the park opening at 9, and I don't play any games when it comes to the happiest place on earth. 

     Finally we arrived, the boys bought a one day pass and we made a beeline for fast passes. We snagged Soarin', Spaceship Earth and Maelstrom, and then I began to relax. Up until then, Graham was just about ready to string me up by my toes because I can't help but feel obligated for everyone to have the best day ever, so I stress myself out in order for that to happen.

    Test track was a family favorite. 

    Granger, Blade and Acey riding in a clam at The Sea.

    Everyone loved the aquarium, filled with manatees, sharks, dolphins, sea turtles and sting rays.

    No biggie, 100 degrees outside.

    Mission to Mars, the only ride Graham can't enjoy. 

    Mexico! The boys did a mission with Perry the Platapus.

     Sombreros for all the boys. 

    Playing with all of fun things in China.

    All day we all laughed, rode, walked, purchased and had so much fun at Epcot. A general consensus decided the best rides were: Mission to Mars, Test Track and Soarin'. The favorite snack option was a chocolate& caramel apple, slushies and Mickey pretzels. Japan and Mexico were the most popular countries within the World Showcase. After riding all of the rides, they did begin to enjoy the countries! Surprisingly enough. We stood over a railing next to the water to watch the huge fireworks show, Illuminations. 

    It was such a fun day for all of us. Time and time again I say, but I am just grateful to be able to spend time with them. I love how close we are, how they want to do things with me :) I would gladly take them every weekend, if I could. They had a blast! We had a blast! And, like always, I am ready to go back ;)  

SLC (pt. 4)

    Wednesday, August 6th was the big day. Listi's final hours with us crept up immensely fast, the vacation flew by far too quickly, like always. When she opened her letter on June 7th, we thought "wow, there is so much time!" Then there I was, watching her as she slept thinking about how truly long a year and a half was. (Note, this was not as creepy as it sounds!)

    It was past time for her to wake up according to her missionary schedule, but I felt compelled to let her sleep in for this last day. So finally around 8:30 I woke her up from her slumber. We got in touch with Mama, who was sleeping in a room on another floor. She met us upstairs and we packed up everything. At 9 o'clock I thought 'well 4 more hours to go until...'

    I couldn't even hardly think it. It was like anticipating taking caster oil, not worth the effort of worrying about because it was essential. Until then I had tried to be her champion, supporting a mission through everything but it became so visceral. About a month after we were married I told Graham that Listi and I wouldn't ever be close, the two of us were far too different, which has caused more arguments than I could count. But, as we dwindled down to hours left together, I began to think how wrong I was. My sister had become one of my closest companions, only for her to be whisked away as soon it happened. 

    We went to IHOP, Listi's favorite, for a proper send off meal, knowing she wouldn't eat a bite at the MTC that day. She still hardly ate a thing, which was to be expected since she has began to show signs of nervousness. 

    Next we dropped by Walmart to pick up last minute items, mostly makeup, snacks for Listi's stay, surprise gifts for everyone at home and a few things forgotten until the last minute. After spending more than we planned (doesn't that always happen on trips?), we drove back to Shannon's home, since she volunteered to drive us to Provo and the airport. In her driveway, I chopped away the last of her rat's tail. She knew I wouldn't let her get away with it! 

    As we drove the 45 minutes to Provo, I became more and more nervous, Listi was as well, though she certainly fought to keep us from thinking that. She read her scriptures, I tried to take more footage for my video of our trip, Mama spoke to Shannon about everything. 

    Eventually, we saw the Provo Temple, we pulled to the side of the road so we could photograph it. Our driver said "Oops! Car trouble (wink, wink). No, I better stop before I jinx myself." 

    Meanwhile I was searching in vain for the grand rectangular Missionary Training Center sign, absolutely wanting a picture next to it! Since we couldn't see it, we pulled upwards towards the actual MTC to inquire about it. "No we haven't had that sign in about two years! But you can pull up to the left." What?!? She wasn't supposed to be there until 1:15, it was only 1:02! That was 13 minutes too early!!!

    Listi was complacent, not exuding any kind of emotion. Surprisingly, mama or myself didn't have tears flowing but I think we were all dreading the next few minutes. Sweet young missionaries were all scurrying inside with lots of luggage, happy and nervous. There were tons of missionaries, so we eventually figured out that half were escorts to the newbies! We joked about the Dork Dot, a orange sticker that was to be put on the name tag. 

    As we pulled to a stop there was a smiley brunette sister missionary waiting to assist. Not to be dramatic,  but my heart was pounding thinking "this is it, this is it!" So we unloaded her bags, Mama asked if we had any time and we were told we had 3 minutes with her. So I snuck in a huge bag of snacks I'd secretly bought with a note into her biggest suitcase. Mama and I asked for a picture, then we both went in for a hug. "I love you!," was all I could say before my voice caught and I knew I would have to quit speaking. She turned around, without a smile or a frown, and rolled away without looking back.

    Gone in the blink of an eye, a year and a half before we are reunited. 

    Before we had left the parking lot, my phone began to ring. Daddy! I felt plumb sick to my stomach thinking that he had wanted to speak to her and missed his chance. But he was totally fine, he had caught her earlier in the day and was just checking in. I figured if he had spoken to her it might have done more harm than good, definitely intensifying her  anxiety. 

    So away we left towards the Salt Lake Airport, our adventure practically over. Rain began to come down in heavy sheets, Shannon flipped on the windshield wipers and swiftly as they came on, one side broke off and began to scratch the windshield. Jinxing? We certainly thought so. But through the rain we went, unable to use the wipers but surviving the trip :) 

    After being a life saver and such a sweetheart, we parted from Shannon. We had 3 hours before our flight and we wanted to rest, since I never can on a plane anyway. Wouldn't you know that as we walked in there were several groups of families holding up "Returned with Honor," "Welcome Home Sister/Elder" or "We love you!" Mama and I could not resist watching the joy family and friends felt as they embraced a missionary home. Yep, I already imagined us sharing that moment with Listi, despite dropping her off 2 hours prior.

    Mama and I grabbed lunch at the food court, I insisted she try Cafe Rio, bought a few bags of dark chocolate covered pomegranates and waited on our flight. We flew Delta coming home, which was a first, and I was so dang impressed! There was free music, a screen with games and comfy chairs! No person sat next to us, though we had a spare seat, so we had a storage chair for all of our mess. It was literally phenomenal because we were both so tired and needed some down time. At one point I said, "can you believe we jut left Listi on the other side of the country?" And Mama replied, "hush I can't even think about that!" 

    Flying to Atlanta was a breeze! We relaxed and giggled and took pictures of the glorious mountain range. As we started to circle in, I became so stressed. It was nearing midnight, since we jumped ahead a few time zones, and things on the airport were shutting down. My biggest concern lied in the fact that we only had about 37 minutes between landing and take off. All planes require check in and loading but Atlanta is a humongous airport that often requires the use of the subway to get to and fro. As quickly as we could we got off the plane, we darted towards the subway and watched as the minutes ticked down. We became those people I had gawked at before, the two of us sprinted to our spot. We had 15 minutes til take off but we had just reached out terminal. Imagine! But luckily we were B5, right up front. Until we realized the numbers were listed from greatest to least, meaning our terminal was one of the farthest down, past all greater numbers and a food court. A tear could have easily escaped my eye at this point! So we hustled towards the end, Mama gasping for a minute to rest, when the heavens opened and a choir of cherub cheeked angels sang. "Do you need a lift?" A Delta worker in a little luggage cart asked. "Yes! Thank you!" we wheezed. Our little friend, who we helped on the Subway, also headed to JAX, bummed a ride off of us and didn't leave us alone until we ran away from him in the next airport.

    Graham picked us up at 12:13 precisely with a bouquet of flowers for me and a single flower for his Mother in Law (Funny story: so he buys the flowers early, around 8, and thinks he wants to keep them hydrated. In they go to a vase of water, where he returned to see all of the stems broken off! Curse you cheap Publix daisies). We got in the car and rushed home so I could be prepared to work the next morning. 

    Well that's it. Our fantastic trip to SLC, taking Listi to the Missionary Training Center and having a completely blast. I'm sad to end this chapter, it was a trip I will eternally be grateful that I went on, just so jam packed with exciting memories. I will be back, without question. It was so fun and so short that I can't think of doing anything else. :)

SLC (pt. 3)

    As we fled The Garden, some old Granny got on to us for standing on a couch and leaning on the windows near the temple, we were eager to go onwards. 

    If you're LDS you're familiar with General Conference, if not it's a biannual gathering if our leaders broadcasted to us. Well it's always held in the same location, the LDS Conference Center. As we entered the building we were swept into a tour group and led to the roof. That in itself is one of the best things about Temple Square, every building has continual free tours guided by missionaries or volunteers, so they're chalked full of direction and information. So up we went to see the views from above, and in typical fashion, tons of small botanical gardens. 

    Finally we were taken inside to see the actual room, filled with an enormous set of organs. Prophets, apostles and regular folks like myself have littered the floors for years. What a special place!

    And then it was time to briefly (like te most briefest of all brief) visits for the North and South Visitor's Centers. As we began to exit the South, a whirling torrent of rain came down in sheets- but were we to be dismayed? Nay! We ran through that rain without batting an eye, though we should have considering Listi was unwilling to share the "family" umbrella. And wouldn't you know the rain finally let up and we rounded a corner and...

    WOW. Can you handle that? I can't. Here is a series of selfies, proof that I was present at this magnificent sight, the best I have ever seen.

    (My instant camera was everywhere with me on this trip.)

    At 5:00 the time arrived. After taking a few hundred photos of the Salt Lake Temple, we finally entered it. My lifelong bucketlist item was checked off with love. Without going into detail, just know that I was thoroughly pleased and eagerly invite all LDS members to go, if possible. It was extra special because some of our closest friends were able to experience it with us: Ethan, Jonathan and Amy. (Fun fact, Amy was having labor pangs and I was terrified at the thought of delivering a baby during the middle of the session. Alas, no baby came :)

    As we exited, we began to stress when we realized we would cut it close to make Listi's curfew. So we bid Ethan farewell, grabbed the quickest bite from the food court (Red Iguana for me, Chick- Fil- A for the Mizell's) and ran towards the train. With a hop, a skip and boom we were heading towards cousin Shannon's! Luckily she scooped us up and we scurried to her home. Her family and ours stayed up sharing stories and learning more about each other. I am so grateful for her hospitality. Daddy always said it was hard to find a nicer group of cousins, he was right! 

    So finally we slipped into the bed and I thought about how it would be a long time before Listi and I would be able to split a room again. And then everything blended together as I fell into one of the best night's sleep I have ever had.