Adventures With Elder Evs: Fiery Tabasco Heat

Evan only has 9 and a half months until he is back here in the good ole USA. The time has flown by! We talked to him on Mothers Day and he could barely speak English, which is a good sign because that means he is immersed in the Spanish language. Which also means I need to get crackin' on mine...eek!

"Get this. Patricia has been attending church for almost 7 years before we came. It was at this moment, that we helped her see the importance of baptism, and took the decision to be baptized."

He transferred from Agua Dulce to his new area Cunduacan, Tabasco during the hottest month of the year. Meaning that all the pictures we are sent features Elder Grossman with a constant red sunburnt face, no matter how much sunscreen he puts on! He is currently training his new companion Elder Ortiz and is also teaching him some English. They are teaching the non-member parts of families in the ward and baptizing them. They are having some awesome success in Cunduacan despite the crazy heat!

"Sooo our toilet got clogged, and we used a Mexican invention to unclog. You're not going to believe what we did. Note: broomstick + empty bottle of clorox = toilet plunger."

"The four missionaries of the ward sang in the ward talent show for Mother's Day here in Mexico. We sang "He Sent His Son" and "El Cristo Es" This is the Christ. Then I did a solo singing "Mother, I Love You," too bad I can't send the videos I have in my emails. Just want to let you know mom, Happy Mothers Day!" 

Finally, Evan's story of a cute little guitarist at the ward talent show: "Ponchito, el guitarist little poncho the guitarist. This is the son of the ward mission leader in our ward. He sang for a minute, but I recorded it all. It's freaking hilarious, he sang: 

'Y tu te vas, y yo me voy...and you're going, and I'm going' 

He repeated that phrase for a minute, and then ended:

'Y tu te vas y yo me voy, y se queda, con los perros and you're going, and I'm going, with the dogs' Ahhh it was hilarious! Wish I could send the video!"

Modest Dresses: How + Where to Find Them

{Left-->Right. Blue pattern: Loft, $20. Purple floral: Ross, $16. Pink floral: Francesca's, $28 with employee discount. White lace: Ross, $17. Blue&Cream: Anthropologie sale, $40.}

I've had many people comment here or on Instagram with something to this effect:
"How do you find all these cute/modest/affordable dresses?!"
Well my friends, I will now divulge to you my tips & tricks for dress shopping!

{Left-->Right. Teal pencil: Banana Republic, gift from friend+$5 strap tailoring. Taupe pattern: Banana Republic via Plato's Closet, $14+$5 strap tailoring. Cream lace: GDazzle.com, won in a giveaway. Yellow gingham: eShakti, c/o for a review+$5 strap tailoring. Orange eyelet: Old Navy, $7 on sale rack.}

How?

+ Know your height and figure! This will make shopping easier and much more time efficient. If you know that you have longer legs, then you probably shouldn't go for a dress that looks short on the hanger. As for me, being 5'3 with an hourglass shape, I usually go for pencil or fit & flare dress styles. I also know that dresses that look kind of short on the hanger will hit my knee when I try them on because I'm so short! Now that I can eyeball it, I go directly for the dresses that I know will flatter my shape. After lots of trying on and shopping practice, you will soon learn how to spot a dress that will fit your figure by just looking at it on the hanger.

+ Is it worth the hassle? I'm not a huge fan on lots of layering and the most I'll do is a lightweight sweater {I get so freaking hot, no more layers!}. So if a dress needs a top/tank underneath and a sweater on top or needs extensive tailoring, I usually just pass on it. You want dresses in your closet that are fun and easy to style, not something you have to constantly adjust or use a bazillion different layers for it to be deemed appropriate.

+ Sleeves, tank tops, and sweaters, oh my! If I love a dress but it doesn't meet my sleeve requirement, I think about what in my closet I could layer with it. An orange sweater? A tough leather jacket? Then the next question is whether or not it's worth paying for a dress that I would have to layer something over the top? If it's a good price, length, and it tugs at my heart strings...I'll give in and purchase the dress. All of these dresses are completely adorable and I would layer my sweater or chambray shirt over the top to not only make it modest, but give it some personality :)

Where?

 + Ross. I almost always find a nice pencil or lace dress at Ross {and adorable shoes, but that's beside the point!}. You have to visit Ross when you are in a "thrifting" mood, because you have to search for items in your size and try everything on. Although, it is completely worth it when you score a good deal because the dresses are usually $30 and under!

+ Secondhand Stores {i.e. Plato's Closet}. I have found many Banana Republic dresses at secondhand stores for only $14-$16, and the only tailoring needed was to pull up the straps! {yet again, midget status}. It is completely worth the inexpensive fix because they are classic pencil dresses that can be mixed and matched with anything for any season.

+ Anthropologie. Stop rolling your eyes! It can be inexpensive, it just takes more effort and time to keep track of the dress you want until it hits the sale racks. I've found funky pieces for $30-$50 on sale that add personality to my wardrobe AND meet my appropriate requirements.

+ Ann Taylor Loft. This is one of my favoritest places to shop. Seriously EVERYTHING goes on sale, and they can run from $15-$30 on the sale rack! A lot of times they will even do an additional 40-60% off of sale items which is awesome. Most everything has sleeves, is classy, and a good length. Definitely one of my top places to find comfy, affordable, and casual dresses!

Lawn-Gate

 It has been an extremely stressful few days, which is funny considering I felt inspired to write this post on prayer the other day...and now I've been non-stop praying that things will work out for us.

On Friday we were sent an email saying that the property owner of our place in Provo was extremely upset to see our front lawn starting to yellow and instead of giving us time to fix it, he instructed our management company not to re-new our contract. Which means we would have the next 15 days to find a new place and move out, with our roots {internship/job} still in California left to finish, and 2 weeks before school starts. Ridiculous right? So we dropped everything and drove up 10 hours through the night to get here. Come to find out, the switch that controls the sprinklers had been accidentally turned off around a week ago, which caused parts of the lawn to yellow.

We have been watering, mowing, edging, planting, and weeding non-stop to get this front yard back to pristine condition in hopes that the owner will take pity on us. Just in case he doesn't, we have looked into other options for housing. Talk about having the rug ripped out from under you.

We met with management this morning, and I was a nervous wreck the entire time. Pit in my stomach, dry throat, palm sweating, stammering kind of nervous. We {ok, mostly Ryan} explained the situation and asked if they would please be understanding. Especially since we sprung into action once we were informed of the issue, took control, and handled it. He gave us the response that regardless, we were still responsible for the lawn, even if we were out of state and had no clue about it. Also, he would have to talk to the owner and see what he has to say about it, and that he will get back to us tomorrow...

So now we play the waiting game. Will we get to stay? If we don't, will I stay in Utah to move us into a new place? When is Ryan going to head back to California to finish his work for the summer? Will we fight to stay in the house regardless?

What I do feel better about are the following things: that we have found a couple of options of apartments to move into, the rain is pouring down to green up our lawn, and that I seriously have the bestest friends, family, and husband in the entire world. {All of these answered prayers??}

Wish us luck!

Pray More, Worry Less

As of late, I've been feeling spiritually depleted. I need to study my scriptures, pray more, and stop fretting about life. I've had this craving to be more in tune with my marriage and with myself. Last Sunday, a woman gave a talk during church and noted that we should all take more enjoyment in the actual doing of things instead of the getting things done. It really spoke to me, especially as someone who takes great joy in crossing things off my to-do list.

Though, how can I expect to connect with my Heavenly Father when I'm busy running around stressing about the future? It's necessary to have that stillness & peace in my life so I'm able to create an atmosphere where I can be quiet & introspective. Not only is this essential to my spiritual well-being but also to my physical and mental counterparts which all plays a part in getting healthy. So my goal this week is to pray more & worry less.

How are you working towards getting healthy this week?

Missionaries

{Waffles with my favorite sauce, Knotts Boysenberry Syrup :) }

It's been a long long week. I have had MEGA cute outfits the past few days but haven't had the time to take pictures! Promise that they will come soon. Is it just me, or has this week been way tiring? And next week isn't lookin that much better with all the essays and tests. But guess what...only two more weeks till THANKSGIVING. That means CRAFTS, DELICIOUS FOOD, and FAMILY. Can't wait for a break :)

For Ryan's political science class he has to attend 4 lectures throughout the semester and write essays on them. He was MEGA stoked for this one because the first lady of Honduras {Primera Dama de Honduras} came to speak at UVU. Ryan served his two year LDS-mission in Honduras and had an absolute blast. He was going on and on about how many people in Honduras would never ever get the chance to see her, nevertheless shake her hand a take a picture. How is that for perspective?

She spoke in Spanish, with the horrible translator she had {who had an English accent and was translating spanish...say what?!}, I could understand the first lady way better than the one who was speaking spanish! {Thanks to my 4 years of espanol clases!}

{Ryan and his mission buddy Russell Gardner}

Her lecture was titled "The Way to a Better Honduras", and she spoke of all the different operations she had put into place to increase the amount of children who would stay in school longer than just a few years in elementary. Trying to raise the amount of people who actually graduate, rather than working at 10 years old to help support their family. It was humbling to see all the pictures of young children who were excited to get shoes so they wouldn't have to be barefoot, or having a hot meal actually on a real plate instead of a leaf, or to have a real backpack and school supplies. So many things we take for granted here in the states. She also expressed her gratitude for the LDS missionaries who kept up the morale in the country, and about how excited she was for the new Honduras temple that is currently being built. We are truly blessed here, and I'm thankful for all those missionaries who go out and serve, and sacrifice in strange countries for those in need of faith. 

Gracias elderes! 

{What it will look like when it's done next year!}

<3 Bri

P.S. If you are completely lost and are not LDS, check out the "I Believe" tab to get more info on what I'm talking about. But I'm sure you know who I'm talking about: the white shirt, black slacks, clean cut boys {who turn into men}, riding around on bicycles, preaching what they know is true. The Mormon missionaries :)