The End Of Summer

Thursday June 2

I went to lunch with the fam at Mod Pizza, Parker and Sadie had never been there before, and it was only Trev's second time going. Mod is the only create-your-own pizza place that is relatively close to my house in Mesa, as compared to the ten million that are within a 2 mile radius from my house in Tucson. So Mod is always my go-to pizza place while I am in Mesa, I was fairly shocked that the rest of the fam went so infrequently. But the good news is that they all like it, so maybe we will all go there more often. 

I had a date with Avery after lunch. She really wanted some takis, so I decided to take her to Wal-Mart to get some. I asked her if we needed anything else when we got there and she said "you know, I was kind of thirsty on the way to Wal-Mart" haha it was just so funny in the moment, she cracks me up. Then the next part of our date included watching Saved By The Bell (which she is now obsessed with) and taking naps.

I went to Trev's house afterward to watch a Harry Potter movie with the fam. Trev has been watching them in order, so jumped in with him for the Order of the Phoenix. I unfortunately could not stay to finish the movie because I'm just a party animal and I make so many plans (but really I am not, Thursday was a weird social day for me though).

I went home to meet up with EJ after he went to CrossFit (If you didn't already know, EJ does CrossFit now and he talks about it all the time to make fun of all the other avid Cross Fitters) and then we went over to Andy's house for a game night. I suggested playing Skip Bo but I quickly remembered how boring Skip Bo is, so it wasn't the most exhilarating game, and it just went on forever. But the best part of the night was playing Heads Up. People were guessing the funniest things like "grey white shark" or guessing fly when the clue was "not a bee but a.....". The game never gets old. 

Friday June 3

Steph came into town to spend the night because she had an early flight out of Phoenix on Saturday. 

We played lots of rounds of princess dominos with Avery and watched a lot of Saved By The Bell.

Today was the day that Arizona really seemed to turn the heat on, I thought my skin was seriously going to melt off my body. 

But even knowing how hot it was we still went to Krispy Kreme to get our free doughnut. There was only one person there that worked during my days at Krispy Kreme, which is pretty weird considering he's not even a manager, just an employee. This was my first time in a long time going to Krispy Kreme on a free doughnut day and not working, and not one ounce of me wished that I was. 

While EJ was at cross fit, my family, myself and Steph watched Zoolander 2. The sequel of all sequels that no one seems to like, but I love.

When EJ got back the three of us went to Tempe to meet up with Clark, EJ's old roommate in Tucson from a few years back, for dinner. Clark took us to a place called Chopped, it was healthy af and one of those hipster places that people would drive too far to go to just for a good picture. 

I got a delish sandwich and everyone else got protein bowls. 

Afterward we decided to go to the Bahama Bucks in Tempe. I have had many a shaved ice in my lifetime from Bahama Bucks, and the shaved ice I got that night was probably the saddest. The dome was small, there wasn't enough syrup, and the ice was all too chunky. But the four of us were randomly selected to play plinko with all the bottles and Clark and I won, so each of us got a freebie coupon. So winning made up for the less than adequate shaved ice. My loyalty remains with the Signal Butte store.

Saturday June 4

I woke up to an email from Zach!!! I had been sending lots of emails and Dear Elder letters to him, pretty much whenever I felt like texting him, so I was so excited to hear from him!

He's doing really great! He was chosen to be District Leader over his 10 person district, so he's kind of the coolest cat. He says his Spanish is coming along pretty well and that it's crazy how much people have improved in just a few days. He even held a five minute conversation with someone in Spanish, so he's practically fluent haha. 

But seriously I was so excited to get an email from him, I wasn't expecting his P-Day to be until Monday, so it was the most fantastic surprise waking up to his emails. 

If any of you are wondering what his email is it's zachary.walton@myldsmail.net. His P-Day is going to be Saturday up until July 11, and then he is heading out to Trinidad!

I went swimming with my dad, Avery and McKenzie in the early afternoon. It's so hot, so swimming has now become a necessity for survival.

After we were done swimming I took my sisters to drive around Mesa to get the rest of the family some treats. I wanted Dutch Bros because I had one punch left on my card and I could give McKenzie my free one. Kenzie promised Avery some Starbucks, so that was Avery's treat. And my father and EJ both wanted specific drinks from Circle K. So we went everywhere, melted just a little bit, but made it home alive with everyone's drinks. 

Saturday night was Ashlyn's wedding! I was so excited 1) because Ashlyn was getting married and 2) because Bethany Tanner was going to be there and I hadn't seen her in forever (she was one of my young women's leaders but is now living in New Mexico). It was a ton of fun catching up with her, she is just so awesome. 

Eventually, Sadie and Parker arrived so I partied with them, alongside Victoria and her husband Brad. 

The reception was a blast, and Ashlyn looked so beautiful, and her and McKay just looked so happy and in love and so cute, I could've died.

While everyone was sending them off, Victoria and I yelled "HAVE FUN" and McKay turned around to give us the biggest wink in the world, I WAS DYING. It was so hilarious. 

Before they drove off I was trying to read what it said on the car and on one window it said "unefourth" and I couldn't figure out what it was, so Victoria thought oh maybe it's a portuguese word because McKay served in Brazil, so she grabbed Brad, who also served in Brazil, and then we figured out it said "junefourth" the "j" was just on the other window. It was embarrassing, but also hilarious.

Sunday June 5

I left to go back to Tucson in the morning. My summer in Mesa had finally ended, now it's time for the school part of the summer. 

Once I got to Tucson I unpacked and got ready for church. Since everyone in third ward leaves for the summer we combine with fifth ward and switch off each week on who is in charge. This week it was fifth ward and it was pretty chill. Good lessons, good discussion and of course a good break the fast. Fifth ward ALWAYS has the best break the fast.

The rest of my Sunday was pretty much spent on my couch watching random things and doing laundry. Nothing too cutting edge. 

Monday June 6

I woke up to an awful email saying that my grant had been taken away from me because I wasn't enrolled in enough credits. I could go on and on about how stupid the situation was, but I've complained to almost every person I've been in contact with, so I will spare them from reading about the situation again. Long story short. No more grant. Hello loan. Boo.

Monday was the first day of my apprenticeship class! Class started at 10 am at the Star Newsroom. We got our intern passes that let us into the building, my pass is #18 and it was very exciting because that's my favorite number. Insignificant things like that make me happy. 

So after we got our passes, we filled out lots of fun HR work, and then took a tour of the newsroom. This was my second time going there so a lot of it was redundant, but I did get to go see where the paper was made (it's also where the Wildcat gets printed) and it was so freaking cool. I am very excited about all the opportunities ahead this summer, it's going to be exciting!

After my class ended, I went to go meet up with my family since they were there for McKenzie's orientation. It wasn't the world's best day for McKenzie to have her orientation, she was very sick. But she was a trouper and got pretty much everything done that she needed to. I am very excited for her to become a wildcat like the rest of the elder siblings.

During her orientation I was able to figure out how I would be able to attend my family reunion next weekend, and it has all worked out! I am very excited, but so sad I won't be joining my family in going to Canada after the reunion... stinkin' school.... stinkin' work.

After my left to go back to Mesa, I went to my house and hung out with my roomies and our extra roomie Rylie (she works with Ty). Jenny, Ty, and Rylie like to work out... I like to sit on the couch and eat takis while they work out haha. It was a pretty relaxing evening for the most part, no complaints.

Tuesday June 7

Today was the first production day for the Summer Wildcat, so I spent most of the day in the newsroom. Almost all the editors are new this summer so it's a weird dynamic now, but it's refreshing. Also Chastity is an editor with me now, which makes my whole life, and she goes to get food with me. She's the best. 

The good thing about the summer wildcat is that the work load is WAY less, so I am able to get things done much quicker. I now understand why I am getting paid so little hahaha.

I am excited for things to start feeling normal again here in Tucson, after I get in the swing of things, time will start to go faster and I will have no idea where the summer went.