Winnie the Pooh + Adam = Kindred Spirits!!

LELELELOLALALELALLL! I'M FREEEEEE!

My first year of college is over, I got really good grades, I got a full tuition scholarship for this upcoming Fall, and I made it home to Oregon safe and sound! :D Anyway, guess what the first words that came out of my dad's mouth were when he saw me for the first time in four months? 

"Chanel! It's good to see you again! ... Woah. Your legs are white. It's like you've been in Utah or something!"

I'm pretty sure it took him a decent amount of constraint not to say:

Jeez louis! Thanks daddy... It doesn't help that when I saw one of my best friends, Miranda, she ended up commenting that she feels really tan next to me. Maybe I just won't wear shorts anymore! At least we've had gorgeous weather since I've been back, sun and everything :) Only problem is my skin doesn't tan... I guess I'll just have to embrace this white skin of mine!

Since being home I've spent a lot of time with my sister and her husband. It's been fantastic! The last three days I've hung out with her, I've laughed so hard I've cried. I feel like when we hang out it usually turns out like this:

Her husband doesn't even know what's happening. Heck, we don't even know what's happening, but we can't stop laughing!! We're goobers together :) I've missed it so much!!

Rainbows, Hiking, and Divine Intervention!

Oh MAN has this past week been insane! Yesterday I finished my last final of the semester, and today I'm heading home to Oregon! Yeeeehaw! I'm SUPER excited!!! I've missed my family so much, and I can't wait to see all my friends from back home! It feels good to be done with my first year of college :) But at the same time, I'm a little sad. Some of my friends from BYU are leaving off on missions, and for those who aren't, I won't see them until Fall semester, and it won't be nearly as often cuz we'll be in different housing :( I know I'll see my friends again at one time or another, but why do "see you later"s have to be so hard? :/ I wish all my friends could just sit on top of a happy rainbow and stay there forever… I guess I'll just have to wait until we get to Heaven until all these "see you later"s are over for good, huh? :)

Ooooor... I could just gather all my friends together and puke a rainbow for us to sit on right now! Just kidding, just kidding. Guys, that's just plain gross, even if it is a rainbow.

Wednesday afternoon I hiked the Y with a few friends! It was so much fun, and it was SOOO windy! Anyway, we took some pictures and hiked to the top and whatnot! 

My Face Is Destined To Be Eternally Red

So I woke up this morning, and my first thought:

(If you don't know what this is and you want to laugh so hard you cry, click here. You're welcome!)

♪ It’s Monday, Mondaaaaay, Monday Monday Monday!! ♫

Do you know what that means?!

I GOT AN E-MAIL FROM MY ELDER! :) YAAAAYYYY!!!
Monday is my Funday of the week! :D

I really wish there was something I could do for Elder Gibby when he's having a rough time... I just need to accept the fact that since I’m thousands of miles away from him and he’s on a mission, the most I can really do is just support him, cheer him on, write him, and pray for him. Sometimes it's hard to only be able to do just that. But I hafta remember, this experience will help him grow and continue the process of him becoming the best man he can be! Gooooo Elder Gibby!

However, on the bright side, he got to play soccer! He’s crazy about sports (remember in the letter he wrote to my parents, his number 1 thing on the list was the he LOVES (capitalized and underlined) sports!), so I’m sure he really enjoyed that!

Oh, you were wondering about the title of this post? 
It's something related to embarrassment, perhaps?
Uh, so yeah. 
I just found out that ELDER GIBBY'S MOM KNOWS ABOUT MY BLOG.

It's a Small World!

So a couple days ago I requested to join this Missionary Girlfriend Support group on Facebook just for the heck of it, figuring I’d just read other Missionary Girlfriend’s stories and blogs for fun. BUT YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED!!!!!

I was added into the group yesterday and was asked to tell a little about myself and my missionary, so I did. Then someone replied and said she’s from Oaxaca. Cool, right?! BUT WAIT.
She then posts this picture on the page and says, “Lovely miss Chanel Lawson, please tell me is this your Elder Gibby? :)”

My reaction when I saw the picture:

IS THAT MY ELDER GIBBY?!? LET ME TELL YOU, WHY YES IT IS!!

He was wearing the tie I gave him and everything!! GAH he's so cute! And his hair! It was as fantastic as always :) Ahhh! :D

My First E-mail!

OHMYJIGGLYJELLO GUESS WHAAAAT?!?!?!

No, I didn't get a puppy, but I'm sure happy enough to feel like it!!! :D
(That's a big deal because I really love puppies! And I want one SO BAD.)

Now I really want a puppy...
Well, to make up for both of our disappointment, here's a picture of an adorable puppy!:

Awww so precious! If you get this puppy for me, I'd love your for life!

Well ANYWAY, I got my first e-mail from Elder Gibby!! YAYAYAYAY!

All day I've been checking my e-mail, mainly because I've been e-mailing a friend who's serving his mission in Oklahoma. I was waiting for his reply since today is his Preparation Day (P Day), one day each week that missionaries can send e-mails/run errands/relax.
There was a part of me that was crossing my fingers that I might hear from Adam today, but I wasn't going to let myself get my hopes up.

This afternoon after getting back from class, I checked my e-mail.
I swear I heard a booming voice from Heaven announce:
"BEHOLD, CHANEL, I PRESENT YOU WITH A LETTER FROM ELDER GIBBY!!"

HALLELUJAH! PRAISE THE LORD!

The Terrifying Attack of the Surprise Letter

I love surprises! Surprises are really fun! You know, surprise birthday parties, surprise gifts. They're so great, right?! Except when it's something that is totally unexpected and freaks you out.

Elder Gibby wrote me a letter. And in this letter I found out some of the MOST TERRIFYING NEWS EVER! He had written my parents a letter and sent it to them! In his words:

"I wrote your parents. Just kind of told them a little about me... Sorry! I need them to know me a little! I hope they like me! So ya sorry it's been bugging me though because I want to know them a little! LOVE YOU SO MUCH"

My first reaction:

YOU DID WHAT?!?!? NOOOOOOO! 

And then I felt bad:

I know I should have properly introduced Adam to my parents... I really do. And I wished I would've. I met his mom and sisters back in January! But understand where I'm coming from. I've never told my parents anything personal. Hardly ever. It's that way with my brothers and sister, too. We talk to each other, but not our parents. Honestly, the main topic of conversation with my parents is academics. I never had that relationship with my mom where I told her about each of my crushes or things I struggled with. Don't get me wrong, I have a great relationship with my parents! It's just not an open-communication, say-whatever-you're-feeling sort of relationship. So imagine how difficult it was to tell my parents that I had a boyfriend in the first place (keep in mind, he's my first boyfriend)! And at that point, he was leaving on a mission in less than a month. I was so worried about what they were going to think.

Leaving the MTC

Elder Gibby left the MTC today to head to Oaxaca, Mexico! It's so crazy! After 6 weeks of being in the same city as him, it's a little sad that when I go to work I can't say, "Adam's here! He's just in a couple buildings over! WE'RE SO CLOSE TO HIM RIGHT NOW."

I told him not to, but being the incredibly thoughtful guy he is, he sent me a package as a half-birthday/Easter/leaving-the-MTC present. There was candy in it and a picture of Christ walking out of the tomb when he was resurrected. But the best part was this little guy:

A Book of Mormon?! Really? What could be so special about that? Well, let me tell you!

In this copy of The Book of Mormon, Elder Gibby highlighted and underlined verses throughout it. He made a key at the front of the book that said which verses related to Patience, Love, Faith, etc. Then he underlined verses that related to us. He included suggestions of things to do while I read. For example, in the Book of Enos he said "Write down all the things you are grateful for!"

While flipping through it, I came across some things that quite literally made me laugh out loud.