.winter.wonderland.

I loved waking up this morning.

Peeking through my blinds.

To see a winter wonderland. 

I loved having the same feeling I

did at that sight when I was 5.

It's magic.

It's beautiful.

It's CHRISTMAS!!!

Ya...I loved today.

...

I had an INCREDIBLE week and I can't wait to tell you about it :)

...

It's 2:20 AM and I just got done with the homework I should have done before I went to Laguna...

Oh ya did I just say LAGUNA!? Posts and pictures to come. Don't fret.

We Never Walk Alone.

I have gotten into this new habit recently {okay...in the last 2 days} where I have read a General Conference talk before I go to bed and when I wake up. I'm not going to lie, I feel like General Conference talks have been something I have taken for granted throughout my life. I have amazing friends who read talks on a weekly basis and they have that spirit of Christ about them as they live their lives. It's something I have ached to have for a while but I have never taken the initiative to really sit down and read a talk or two. A few nights ago I was exhausted and feeling quite down. I opened up my phone and opened up the handy dandy Gospel Library app. I downloaded general conference talks not knowing which one to read. I came across President Monson's talk at the General Relief Society Conference. "We Never Walk Alone". Those 4 words sucked me right in. I opened up the talk and began reading. Tears were in my eyes as I felt this overwhelming calm feeling that I haven't had in weeks. I slept like a baby that night only to wake up and read another talk by our lovely apostle Elder Holland. {one of my favies}

I am grateful for the new habit. I have many habits {biting my nails, playing a game of sudoku before going to bed, picking at my split ends, talking to myself in the car...hey I get lonely sometime}. Some of my habits aren't the best I know... but I think I'm going to like this new one.

"You will one day stand aside and look at your difficult times, and you will realize that He was always there beside you."

-President Thomas S. Monson

.sometimes.

Sometimes life kicks you in the butt. 

And it hurts.

Bad. 

Sometimes you try so hard.

But it doesn't get noticed.

Sometimes you just want to stay in bed all day.

But you can't.

Sometimes you just want to cry.

But your tear ducts are already dried out from lunch time's cry.

Sometimes when someone asks, "What are you going to do?"

All you can say over and over again is..."I don't know..."

Sometime those "I don't know's" get old and all you want is some sort of a solution. 

But those "I don't know's" are sticking around. 

Sometimes you want to hear a "yes".

But a "no" seems to get in the way.

Sometimes...just sometimes...

"I DON'T KNOW."

But I'm trying...

I guess that all you can really do at this point.

Keep trying.

.hashtag.insta.updates.

So I have a weakness. An 'insta-weakness'. I am instgramming everything and for those of you who are bothered by it #sorrynotsorry.

I felt like updating ya'll via instagram. Here we go!

1. my parentals surprised in me in paris...it was an emotional time for me. after not seeing and hugging them for 3 months...ya it was amazing. #bestparentsever #paris #cityoflove #reunitedanditfeelssogood

2. reunited with these beauties i call sisters and best friends. #sisters #3monthsaway

3. my favorite part of summer is snow cones. being with these kiddos make it that much more enjoyable! #summer #snowcones #missedthese3 #happygirl

4. oh this sister of mine. so glad to be home with her again. love my aubbie jo. #reunited #mybetterhalf #bestfriends #missedhertoomuch

5. chick-fil-a has become our best friend this year. we have gone at least 5 times. love this brother of mine! #byu #chickfilaatthewilk #bigbro

6. the pinnock clan went to bear lake and did yoga on the beach. such a fun thing to do! #bearlake #pinnockfun

7. a bonus that came from beyond measure is being friends with this beautiful girl. ladies and gents, abby ann falke! #bff #jambajuicelovin

8. i had to amazing opportunity to go visit my little anziano pinnock at the MTC before he headed off to italia. what a blessing. i miss him more and more everyday. #missionary #proudsister #bestfriends

9. this doggie of mine is my little shadow every time i go home. he is my little nugget. #mynugget #lovethisdog 

10. i have been working on making healthier lunches and dinners. #dinnertime #glutenfree #myfavie

11. i got to hang out with rapunzel and a bunch of 4 year olds for an afternoon birthday party. it was a dream come true. #disneyprincess #princessparty #tangled

12. the utes won this year. that's all. #gameday #goutes 

13. beyond measure is keeping me super busy. #beyondmeasure #acapella

14. this boy killed it... and i mean...KILLED it in rent. so incredibly proud of him! #trentinrent #amazingshow 

15. i seriously love the month of october. i would be okay if it lasted longer. #october

16. of course...i have a bajillion india instas. this one just so happens to be one of my favorites. #wildchild #india 

.oh.india.

Everyday I am missing my beautiful India more and more. There are days where life here in the states is nothing but stressful and overwhelming. I find myself having negative attitudes and thoughts. But then I have to remember what I learned over in India. Life is beautiful. Live it. I loved the experience I had over there and I would go back over there in a heart beat. I pray for my India family every night.

Things I miss about India:

>>Walking across the street. A girl in my India team even told me that I walked across the Indian streets like a boss. {her words}
>>Spitting on the side of the road without people giving me weird looks. Spitting there was a norm.
>>The ward. I miss them every day.
>>Bolly/Tollywood movies. Movie night anyone?
>>Wearing sarees. Even though the Relief Society would spend over half of the lesson retying them for us, I still loved how comfortable and beautiful they were.
>>While on the subject of clothing....I miss all of the beautiful Indian clothing. We would be sitting on the bus and us girls would 'oo' and ahh' over the beautiful sarees.
>>The service. I miss dedicating my life to service for 3 months.
>>The food...sometimes. haha
>>The prices. A bottle of water: 30 rupees...20 cents
                       A puff: 5 rupees... -10 cents
                       An entire meal... 65 rupees... $1
                       A saree...400 rupees... $7
                       An entire Indian outfit {pants, churidar, scarf}...800 rupees...$15
...ya you would miss the prices too.
>>The bus. We would meet so many friends on the bus. One of them even stole a cucumber for me.
>>Getting stared at {not the creepy stares}. I just loved feeling different.
>>The music. Seriously. I love Indian music!
>>Dr. Meera, Urmi, Bindu, Vacenta and Mary. My India mothers. I miss them everyday.
>>The children. Indian children are beautiful and full of so much spirit.
>>Feeling unconditional love each and everyday.
>>Being on my own. India was my thing and I loved how personal it was to me.

I still can't believe I lived in such a beautiful country full of so many beautiful people.

I am so grateful that India was the kind of experience that was so amazing that landing in the SLC airport was so incredibly hard that I cried my eyes out as that plane landed. I will never forget the amazing 3 months spend in India.

Oh India

"Bags are packed you're on your way.

But all you wanna do is stay.

How could you know you'd be okay

When that plane took you HOME for the first time?

Embrace the anchor of your life.

And hurry on and catch that flight.

And when you first stepped off that plane,

You know you're life has changed.

Oh India...I never knew you'd be so kind.

Oh India...I never knew you'd take my side.

Oh India...the way you pulled me in and changed my life.

Oh India...Oh India.

You settle in you find your stride.

At times you wanna change your mind.

You open up and you realize,

Your HOME is sitting there before your very eyes.

Oh India...I never knew you'd be so kind.

Oh India...I never knew you'd take my side.

Oh India...the way you pulled me in and changed my life.

Oh India...Oh India.

Nine thousand miles away you cry.

The children laugh you start to find,

the reason for this ache inside.

You're calling's here it's clear,

and now it is your time.

Oh India...I never knew you'd be so kind.

Oh India...I never knew you'd take my side.

Oh India...the way you pulled me in and changed my life.

Oh India...Oh India.

Oh India."

-Lyrics by T.J.E.

What a blessing it is to have met so many people that made

saying goodbye so incredibly difficult. 

.fall.2013.

Well I'm back! Sorry for the lack of blogging. Life really has been so crazy busy and I have so much to tell!
I am back in good ol' Zoobie land. Provo that is. This time around I am living at King Henry and so far it's been a really good experience. I love my roomies and the environment. The ward is so wonderful and everyone is so welcoming. So I guess you could say Fall 2013 semester at BYU is A LOT better than my Winter 2013 experience.

School is....hard. But I do love it. My professors really do take good care of us. They care for our success and they are so sweet. Even though they are a little older and some of them are a little....well old, they are so sweet and loving. The girls in my cohort are incredible! Notice I said GIRLS. Literally....ALL girls. I love that though. We all watch out for each other and are dear dear friends. I love them all.

Work is non-existent. I really wish I had a job. I would love to be working right now. Ever since I started college I have always had a job. I find myself manage my time better with school and a job. Plus, I'm making money. So ya...I could use a little cash. So if anyone knows of any job opportunities...let me know. This girl needs one!

Beyond Measure is nuts. Crazy crazy busy and a little time consuming. But hey. I love singing and being with those humans. They are all so wonderful and loving. Being part of the aca-community is fun. We had a dinner with Vocal Point and Noteworthy. Of course there was singing. haha I've learned a lot in this group.

Anyways...life is great and I'm trying to get by.

well.hello.

Well hello there!
My name is Annie and I stink at blogging.
I am now home from India.
It has now been 2 months since I left that beautiful journey...weird.
But I am home.
Healthy...well attempting to get there.
Safe.
Happy.
And hopeful.

For those of you who actually read my blog...thanks momma...I will be starting
to post come updates in the next few days.

A lot has happened.
I am a happy girl.

.sari.sunday.

Something that I love about India is the beautiful clothing that the women wear. Most of them have stuck to the traditional saris and churidars and let me tell ya...they are all so beautiful! The girls in the group have all bought some saris and churidars. We all wore them to church one day and got some pictures taken after. Too bad women in America don't wear this kind of clothing because it is soooo comfortable!

I seriously love these girls so much!

.english.classes.

Our HELP team had an opportunity to teach English to the members of the LDS stake over here. Although this was a very, very...VERY stressful project, I found it to be very rewarding. I loved sitting with the members as they listened to the teacher. I also had an opportunity to teach for a little bit. This was really different for me since I am used to teaching children. As soon as someone would grasp the concept that we were teaching them, their faces would light up and they would get the biggest smile on their faces. This was so rewarding for me. The vision of success. I have learned that English is NOT an easy language to learn. The members here are so eager to learn and their dedication is incredible. I learned more from them than they learned from me. Like I said...this project was very stressful and unorganized, but we were able to pull through and get everything done.

.dancing.in.india.

There are a lot of things I miss over here in India. Dancing is one of them. When we went to Gloconda Fort, Jenny and I were walking around taking pictures. "Annie...go over there and do a dance move or something. I'll take a picture." I don't think anyone realizes how stoked I was to do this. It was just a kick and a jump, but boy it felt so good to "dance" again. 

.lindsey.taylor.walker.

This girl FINALLY made it to India and I am stoked to have her here!!!! 

.murals.

Project number 3 was start right after summer camp and G.L.O.W. was over. MURALS!!! Now I'm no artist...my beautiful sister Bethany got those genes...but I had an absolute blast doing this project. It was different from summer camp because we didn't do much interacting with the kids. But when we did, it was nothing but fun and games.

So fun story. We had just finished our second mural and we were waiting around the school to get some pictures taken. The students were being very disrespectful and we had to lock ourselves in the classroom. I could tell that the volunteers were getting really frustrated. I was frustrated myself. We were all so tired and worn out that we weren't in the best place at the time. I was mad at myself. I just wanted to go take a nap and be done with this school. We all felt defeated. I was defeated. When I found out that we would be doing ANOTHER mural the following week I was really not excited for it.  The night before we painted the third mural I was saying my prayers and I asked my Heavenly Father to bless me with the strength and courage to take on this next mural. I asked for the desire to want to play with the children and actually want to be there. Now something that I have realized out here in India is when I pray for something, the Lord has been VERY generous not only in my answers but in the timing of them. He works really fast in India haha. So we arrived at the school and all I wanted to do was run over to the kids and throw my arms around them. They were so welcoming and polite. As we were getting the paints and supplies set up, Lindsey noticed that one of the poles holding up their volleyball net had fallen down. Linds, Eric and I went out to fix it and I was thrilled. It felt like it had been a while since I had done service with a huge smile on my face. The kids were so helpful with bringing rocks to fill in the hole and everything. They were so happy to have us there. The net got fixed and we were able to play some games with them! Half way through painting I looked outside and saw Linds playing with the kids. Psh! I put down my paintbrush, washed my hands and went out to play. We taught them "Ring Around the Rosies" and we played "volleyball" with these rubber ring toys. The kids were absolutely thrilled. As was I. I was on cloud 9.

I painted this wall :)

Teaching them the "Hokey Pokey"

My boys

One more story: So we were able to paint a mural for the Alambana School for the Special Needs. What I haven't mentioned yet is that I will be able to be the project lead on teaching at this school. Being a special ed major and hoping to one day make it a career makes this opportunity amazing. (Another blog post to come about this project). We were painting a mural and I noticed that I had a little "shadow". He would stand next to me and watch me paint. We wouldn't say anything but his smile said it all. He loved the colors and the art. He looked about 12 years old. I pointed to the color yellow and asked him what color it was. Little soft noises came from his mouth. He couldn't speak. He physically could not talk. As sad as this was, I looked at this as an opportunity to help him and teach him. I took my experiences in the field to good use and tried my best to give him a little speech therapy. We would sound out the word slowly and eventually it got easier for him. We would say numbers, animals, shapes, colors. He knew them all. I pointed to the letter "M". He got really excited and pointed to himself. His name started with "M". I just knew it. He just wasn't able to say it. I made it a goal to learn his name but for the mean time, my little shadow's name was "M". I love this little boy so much and I cannot wait to teach him more. 

It was from that point on where I knew why Special Education was the field for me. The joy I felt while teaching "M" how to say 'lion', 'yellow', etc. was indescribable. A prayer I have been longing for the answer was answered today. This experience also helped me figure out why I had come to India. Why I decided to spend 3 months in a third (nearly fourth) world country. Why it was India I picked and not Fiji, Peru or Uganda. I was meant to be in India. Serving these beautiful people. Loving them. Unconditionally. I have learned how to love someone more than I love myself and it's a really good feeling.

Our mural for the Alambana School for the Special Needs