viva méxico

it's oficial....

Friday, September 13, 2013 this half chilena half north american is going to become half mexicana, too.  that sounds impossible, i know... i guess my heart will just have to grow to fit all those mexicans in it.  i'll be moving to Mexico D.F. until December 11 to go prepare the Lord's servants in the newest MTC opening this summer.  there are no words to describe the extreme range of emotions i am feeling right now...so i will express them with a song

you may or may not ever see me again.  there is the distinct possibility that i will o.d. on tacos.
peace+love

what makes the irish heart beat...

i still remember the day i found out van morrison isn't black.

pretty much all my memories of him consist of riding in the car in the middle of the night through southern utah to get to las vegas or orderville.  i was never good at sleeping in cars, or anywhere besides my own bed for that matter,  so i'd usually be the only other person awake besides my mom.  she would listen to either van morrison or gladys knight and i would look out the car window at the moon and star scattered night sky.  i remember in the bush off to the side of the road i'd look for the beady reflections of deer eyes, and dead rodents in the median.  mmm, those were the simpler days.

i think i just always assumed he was black because the majority of my mom's favorite singers are, plus add to that his rich tone, amazing improv skills, gorgeous interpretation of this, my favorite jazz song,...

i don't remember how exactly it came up...but i think the conversation went something like this...
"i love van morrison's voice.  i just find it kind of ironic and funny that a black guy is singing irish jigs."
"kelli, van morrison is white."
"what?!?"

i mean, i guess it's cool. i don't really have anything against white guys...

peace+love

spring fever

beautiful escondido/san diego
-gummy watermelons and wedding magazines for the drive. also, lots of Dr. Pepper
-katie's first attempt at wedding dress shopping
-remember hearing about all the rain in cali? ya, we didn't experience that
-peterson's donut corner...open 24 hours aka the reason America is fat...so good
-growing friendships and building new ones
-in 'n out burger
-driving a unimog-offroading in a unimog-almost dying on a unimog-the old guy on his roller blades carrying speakers and interpretive dancing
-trespassing for the sake of a picnic at the rock foundation of a house that burned down on top of a hill overlooking a lake
-kicked out of two apartment complex's hot tubs

-going out with a bang: late night swim at fletcher's cove and moonlight beach, almost a full moon, then warming up in some housing developments hot tub.(i broke more laws this weekend than i have in a long time)(wow, i look terrified)full moon. beach. bonfire. layers of waves grabbing my toes.

i thought, being here, experiencing this, how could you not believe in God?

what did you do this weekend?

p.s. LOST: the final season...starts tomorrow

peace+love

i'll be home for christmas

finals are over, pretty sure i aced them all, and i'm home for the holidays (possibly the last time for 2 years)...

i love living in southern utah. on the drive home i made my routine stop in fillmore at maverick for a potty break and drink refill. i followed a highway patrolman into the gas station. the man holding the door open for us called him by his first name. the highway patrolman called the first man i saw in there "dad". pretty much everyone in there knew his name. then this nice old cowboy helped me get my hood open so i could check my oil.

when i grow up and live in a big city, i might miss this.
peace+love

Russell Family Chaos '08

most people spend their summer family vacations on an exotic island, soaking up the sun or at disneyland then to the beach....not the russell's. that would be too normal. so here goes the Russell Family Vacation 2008

Friday night to the cabin in midway---Saturday, 5 a.m. while my mom, brooke, kerri, and i were sleeping on the deck scott came to wake up my mom and tell her mattie is in labor and he's going to take her to the hospital. (guess he wouldn't be doing the triathalon anymore)...i was awaken 3 more times (once by my mom screaming in her sleep because a big red frankenmonster was coming after her) before finally my dad said it was time to get up and get ready for the triathalon...kerri and i got ready and my dad dropped us off at the check-in...we rode our rented road bikes about a mile and a half in, trying desperately to figure out how to shift down (i finally humbled myself enough to ask someone)...when we got to the check-in we realized we forgot i.d. my race was starting in 30 minutes, and kerri's in an hour and a half. the i.d. didn't get there in time for my race, so after riding back and forth 3 times (almost 9 miles total) one of the race coordinators told me i could still do the sprint length...we started about 10:05. the swim was first and i have never been swimming in a wet suit before...it was really heavy but i think i did okay. kerri forgot goggles so she kind of improvised swim strokes but did pretty well either way.

after the swim was the 13 mile bike ride. i tend to pace myself really slow when i bike cause i don't feel the necessity to go any faster than the speed i'm content with, so really it was a pleasant pretty ride until my butt started to hurt. i was only wearing running shorts over my swimming suit so i didn't have any sort of padding. the last part was a nice steep downhill (the same downhill i got in ragnar!) then flat the rest of the way.

the worst part was definitely transitioning from the bike to the run...for the first mile my backside was yelling at me so it was more like a survivor shuffle. i jogged past this lady and she said as i passed "you go!" then as i got further ahead she yelled "the hell you go, you're 19!" i was about to say "actually 18" but then i decided to avoid making anyone angry...the best way to describe the run is pretty chill. there was a lot of uphill and downhill and all the serious triathaletes were done by then, so everyone was really tired and just didn't seem to care to make some amazing time. it was basically a leisurely jog/walk for most...i got that last bit of adrenaline as i got close to the finish line and sprinted the rest.

after the finish we drove down the canyon and at 3:22 p.m. at 7lbs and 20 inches, Jonah Scott Russell was born! i won't give details cause i don't want to steal mattie's thunder when she posts, but he is so adorable with tons of dark hair.

we went to the hospital about 5 p.m. to see my first nephew then i remembered i hadn't eaten since 7:30 a.m. and i was starving and exhausted. after a satisfying meal at cafe rio and a hard earned ice cream from neilsen's i went home and crashed outside for a couple hours, woke up for about 30 minutes to talk on the phone then slept till 9:30...i slept about 12 hours in 24 and it felt so good. sunday (today) after nalu's farewell we went back to the hospital to see the baby again...he changed a lot in 24 hours- his cone head was gone and he had had a bath...we had cake and ice cream for my mom's birthday and gave out vacation souveniers, the best one being scott's--a liscense plate frame my mom and i found at the italian festival that said "for honor we go to don corleone"...the vacation ended up a little different than what was planned, but it's definitely one i'll never forget!

peace+love