Mission Address

If you're interested in writing...

MTC until approximately November:

Sister Kristi Megan Sobeck
MTC Mailbox # 335
ITA-ROM 1102
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793

Mission office in Rome after that:

Sister Kristi Megan Sobeck
Italy Rome Mission
Piazza Carnaro, 20
00141 Rome RM
Italy

Or use www.dearelder.com which is really easy.

Email address: kristi.sobeck@myldsmail.net

Also, my sister is going to put my weekly emails on a new blog: www.italiansobeck.blogspot.com . Or email me if you want to be put on the email list. Thanks!

It's Close

2 weeks away until I leave on my mission.

A year ago I was saying the same thing, but about Jerusalem.

Mission Call!

I'm going to the Italy Rome mission. I report to the Provo MTC on August 31st.

WHOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

San Diego

Last weekend I went to San Diego for a wedding and to see my sister! I am a fan of San Diego...just a bit.

That about sums up my weekend :) I got to catch up with my sister, go to a beautiful temple to see my friends get married, explore San Diego, go to the beach, eat TONS AND TONS of food (including a MAGNUM bar and loooooooots of chips and salsa hahaha), go to Ventura to see a friend and a different beach, and be in the car lots and lots.

I was a fan.

That's it.

Results

Ok...so I didn't get my goal time. It was unfortunate, because I ended up walking a lot during the race. Seriously, I was mentally unprepared for that thing hahaha. And physically. If I ever do it again, I will train quite a bit more, and do cross-training to strengthen my legs. My legs are what killed me. But at this point I'd rather hike Half Dome or something again than run that again. I'm just being a wimp. I guess it was fun overall though.

My final time was 2:22. So that is about 10:48min/mile pace...not so great, but oh well. I am content that I finished and that I did not die.

But I did not get a slurpee :( AHHHHHHHHHH. I must get one this week!

It's Tomorrow!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

13.1 miles!!!! 

I realize this is not completely outrageous, yet I'm pretty darn excited that it'll be over in about 12.5 hours hahaha. Then I can go drink a slurpee. I've been on a no-sugar diet this week (except for the M&Ms in my trail mix today), and I hope that helps me tomorrow morning as I run. The slurpee will make it all worth it tomorrow!!!

Allergies attacked me this week also, after moving back to Fresno (go figure), so my running was not so good the few times I went. I'm basically scared for this run! I know I can do it...but it might not be as good as I was originally hoping when I signed up for this thing haha.

My goal at this point is a 10min/mile pace, bringing me in to finish about 2:10. I will be soooo happy if that happens. Because I'm not a fast runner :) My other goal is to just not be last hahaha. 

My strategy tonight to pump myself up was to watch a big triathlon race in Alabama...even the commercials got me excited to race tomorrow!! I will never be as hardcore as these intense competitors, I'm doing this just for fun and excitement tomorrow. It will be a cool thing to say I did though!

Hahaha.

Good luck to everyone running tomorrow! Race or not :)

Fresno

I'm home for the summer and I'm sure it'll be an interesting one!

It was pretty great to see a lot of friends at church yesterday on Easter.

Now I have to unpack. I ripped everything apart today to try and find my running shorts, only to find them 20 minutes later in the laundry room. I guess they were in my dirty clothes bag and I forgot...now my clothes are EVERYWHERE in my room. Goals tomorrow: unpack/organize/dye hair. Yeah, that last one is a random one. I might now do it though, I'm not sure yet. :)

P.S. - watch these videos and laugh.

Dear Finals,

Dear Finals,


I am going to kick your butt.


Love, Kristi

:) Hahaha well, that's what I hope at least!

I have spent some time lately making sure my entire Jerusalem journal is typed...I had most of it typed but on long field trips and at church and such I would write stuff down. Well, I have it all compiled. I printed it last night. It is 87 PAGES!! Single-spaced! Holy cow, I just wrote a book haha. I printed it double-sided and I'm going to get it spiral bound so I can keep it FOR-E-VER. Yay :)

I've been home for 4 months already. Wow.

And I still miss it.

Life is pretty darn good about now, besides the finals. There's always setbacks. I've just decided that I'm sick of feeling sorry for myself (even if it's just once in awhile) because it really does ruin the rest of the good times! So while there's been some interesting and difficult things happen the past several months of my life, I'm getting over it and doing good right now!

There are so many good things that happen. Even if it's just tiny little things, it makes life SO GOOD.

For example, a week ago my sister Janine told me something very exciting:
Text from Janine: The best ice cream bars in the world have finally made it to the states :)
My response: MAGNUM BARS?
Janine: Yup!
Janine calling me a couple minutes later: I'm so happy you knew what I was talking about before I said what they were!

Other great things: my roommate prophesying the name and life of my future husband. Haha...Jeffery, I cannot wait to meet you!

Yep, things like this bring great joy. Especially when I know that I get to eat a Magnum Bar at some point in my near future. Like when I go to San Diego to visit Janine, we can eat delicious Magnum Bars together, ON THE BEACH, and be so so so so happy :) :) :) Hahaha joy! Yay foreign countries that produce the best ice cream bars in the world. And yay America for finally getting them here.

Until then...I start finals in 2 days, finish finals in 5 days (hopefully), move out in 8 days, be back in Fresno in 10 days. That countdown got really small really fast. I'm pretty excited for it.

Quote of the day:
“Doing your best means never stop trying.” -Unknown

Dwindling down!

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” ~Gandhi


This is going to be my attitude when finals start in one week from today, and I'll be studying my brains out! :)


I'm going to think I'm happy, say I'm happy, and then be happy when I ROCK my tests! Thank you Gandhi.


At least, that's the plan...hahaha we'll see if reality meets with that goal...


I'm glad the semester is almost over. I'm Vegas-bound in 2 weeks, then Fresno-bound in 2 weeks and a day...woah that came rather fast!


CAN YOU SAY SUMMER????? IT'S ALMOST HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A lot to Handle

There has been SO much that is frustrating lately. So much that I cannot control. It has been very hard for me, but I keep reminding myself that people do care about me and that I am ok. I have some very supportive people in my life, people who will just listen to me talk and talk and vent and talk some more about stuff. I am grateful for them. I am grateful that I am still happy despite all the crappy situations going on around me.

Friends are wonderful. Support and strength from others is much needed. Love is appreciated.

The past couple weeks I feel like more of my emotions have surfaced and I have realized that certain things in my life are affecting me more than I want them to. I like to ignore some things, and other things I like to blow out of proportion. Not on purpose, but just because that is how I am sometimes.

"When you are at the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on." - Thomas Jefferson


This quote was on a friends blog, and I found it to describe certain parts of life pretty well about now.


This is also a song that I love sooooo much. It helps me.

I really am doing ok. Today is just kind of a down day, but I am not feeling sorry for myself. I just felt like writing my feelings on here.


:)

GENERAL CONFERENCE IS THIS WEEKEND. Thank goodness. I love listening to the prophet and leaders of the church, they are so inspired. I hope I will hear things that will help me...I know I will.

I will be home in 3 1/2 weeks already! As excited as I am for this semester to finally be OVER and to go home, this summer is going to be far different than any summers I've ever had before. Hopefully it will be a good thing. I think many good things are going to happen.

Moab

Last weekend I went to Moab, Utah with my roommate Elissa, her fiance Tobin, and a Jeru pal Megan.

We left Friday afternoon and had so  many fun adventures!!!!

Road trip food. Love chili cheese fritos.

Half the parking lot at the grocery store...

Cutting veggies for camping dinner: meat grilled on sticks, tinfoil vegetable dinners = YUM

Saturday we woke up, did some legit rock climbing, and went to Arches National park and did some hiking there. It was such a great day.

Safety circle

Just climbing some cliffs...

"Ravens are bigger than crows. They mate for life." Just some educational information I learned in the Arches visitor center and repeated many times throughout the weekend. I learned something new!

Tobin, Elissa, Kristi, Megan in front of Delicate Arch. Utah license plates.

Cool picture.

Sunday we went to sacrament meeting at the local Moab ward. Small town people are so cool. Then we packed up camp, went to Canyonlands, then drove home and got back to Provo Sunday night.

Our campsite in Moab

Our beloved spring water that tasted SO GOOD.

At Canyonlands National Park - this place was INCREDIBLE and HUGE. Reminded me a lot of the Grand Canyon, which is another awesome place where I want to do the Rim to Rim hike!

This weekend was AWESOME. I loved the camping and being outside because it is some of my favorite things to do. I had never been to any of these places before, and I had never done rock climbing outside of an indoor gym (Yosemite Fitness). I was with fun people and loved the whole weekend. Besides freezing the first night haha.

This week has been tough, I've had a lot of assignments for school to keep me busy as well as other activities. Tonight BYU advanced through the 2nd round of the NCAA tournament and Saturday we play Gonzaga. If we beat them we make it to Sweet Sixteen!!!! THAT WOULD BE SO COOL!!! I love how into basketball everybody is these season. 

Me and my roommates went to the temple this morning. I love the temple :-) It makes my day so much better...even if its not wonderful, its better than it would have been if I hadn't have gone. Tomorrow is the weekend! Busy weekend coming up, but it'll be a good one.

My nieces are 6 months old now. I only have less than 4 weeks of classes left. Then finals, then home for the summer. Then mission! I am in need of a summer job...

It's not spring yet but love is in the air!

I know 3 couples who got engaged within the past 5ish days...WOW! Don't get me wrong, this is freakin awesome, its just crazy!!! Not saying I want to get engaged yet (I'm pretty sure it's a good idea to date someone first...yep I'll have to work on that one), but that sounds pretty fun to get engaged! And get married too. I'm excited for all 3 couples :-) Congrats to Mike and Caitlin (Jeru friends), Paul and Jill (138th ward pals last year), and Mikeal and Jessica (Fresno friends)!!! Yay love!

Well despite everybody else's romance and not my own, I guess life is pretty good.

I've made some interesting realizations lately that have taken me by desperate surprise, but because of those decisions I feel a lot better and peaceful about my life for the time being. That is a good sign that it is right.

I really cannot wait for SUMMER . This semester has not been my absolute favorite I guess and though I don't know all reasons why, being at home is just sounding very good lately. Me being at BYU right now is not a bad thing at all though, so I'm still enjoying myself! Sticking out my classes, hanging out with great friends, running so I don't die at the end of April for my half marathon, having fun. The usual in the life of Kristi. Yep, good times.

Really though, only about 5/6 weeks of classes left!!!! YAY!!

Here's a Jerusalem picture, just because:

Keeping with the trend of the post...LOVE!!! How cute :-)

Yes Girls Do This. Because We Love Boys. It's True.

I love this.

Contemplative Mood

I wrote this in a facebook note last night because I wanted to see if people have any insights! Hope it makes sense.

I guess I'm just in a contemplative mood and I felt like I wanted to share some insights from my mission prep class! 

My mission prep teacher is Bro. Bott. At first I honestly did not know how I felt about him - all I had heard from EVERYONE was to take this class from him because he is that amazing. So I am in his class and the first week I did not think that much of him. I thought he was so sarcastic and an onery old man, who obviously knew a lot but I didn't know how to relate to him. Half way through the semester, now I love that man...he was mission president of the Fresno Mission about the time I was born and I love hearing him tell stories about his missionaries all over the Central Valley. He brings the spirit into class, brings up excellent points that students have been hearing for years from him and it seems to be working. I am a fan of him today.

Today in class one of the things we talked about was judging, or rather NOT judging. We talked about Pepsi and Coke (HAHA) and about how the drinkers should not judge the non-drinkers and vice versa hahaha that was an interesting lesson. I already do not feel bad about the fact that I enjoy drinking Coke once in awhile...so thats good. Bott gave us a handout with a poem that I really liked:

False Advertising

by Lafond Hall

Don't judge me you plead, By my clean shaven head.

don't judge by my oversized pants.

Don't judge by the rhinestone that's set in my nose,

or my somewhat belligerent stance.

Don't judge by the slogan proclaimed on my shirt.

Don't judge by the comrades I choose.

Don't judge by the music my boom box emits

Don't judge by the language I use.

How then shall I judge you, My foolish young friend?

It's time you start realizing

That if outward things don't proclaim who you are,

Then you're guilty of false advertising.

We were talking about how the appearance of a missionary really does matter. And I think this applies to all life. Our appearance really does matter. We all have our styles, and I love that because it makes us individuals. But we need to use our styles as a good example and not have others judge us wrongly because of it. It's sad, but it's true. I don't know if that made any sense at all...

I have loved Bott's lessons on how we can tell if we're answering our own prayers. The Spirit of Revelation happens when we have confirmation/peace in our mind AND heart, not just one or the other. Lots of other good stuff was discussed.

We have talked about girls going on missions, and how it is not our obligation like it is for priesthood brethren but our service is welcomed. Men are supposed to go on a mission and then get married. Girls can get married OR go on a mission OR do other things...I feel like that makes it harder in many ways to decide. However, the most important thing is to prepare for the temple and always be worthy for the temple...that is the essential part for preparation for a mission.

Get ready for life, because you never know what is going to come your way. Always allow yourself to change. 

And then one more poem that Bott gave us today that I just really thought was funny:

Black Name Tag

Black name tag upon our chest

We are men, the Church's best.

Some may boast and some may brag

But only a few wear the black name tag.

Twenty-four months without a date--

But we are tough, we can wait.

Our girls sit home -- they'll never brag --

Their brave young men wear the black name tag.

On returning home, we resume life --

Start a search to find a wife.

But finds are few and efforts sag --

Such a life for the black name tag.

You find a fox; she has a man.

You find a chick; she has a plan.

you find the one; but what a drag --

'cause now she's wearing

the black name tag.

Haha I've seen cases where this is true, and I thought it was a funny little poem.

Anyways, food for thought. Anyone else got some insights? Good night.

Not too exciting

The weather in Provo has been AWESOME the past few days. I love this. But alas, about now it feels like a storm is coming, and I have heard that snow is on its way tonight/tomorrow.

Good thing I'm going to California for this long weekend :) Even if it's going to rain the whole time, it's away from the cold snow. So I am happy.

Other than that, nothing too incredibly exciting happening.

I went to a cabin in Midway last weekend with a bunch of Jerusalem friends. Two Jeru people got engaged to each other the previous week and showed everybody a HUGE fake ring that everyone thought was real. HAHAHA. :) :) :) I like the real one better.

School is not too intense. I got a 91 on my first chronic disease test last week.

I decided to train for a half marathon happening on April 30. I'm probably crazy but I'm really excited about it.

Oh yeah, and I'm working on my mission papers. :) :) :) :) :) :) Best news of my life, besides when I found out I got into Jerusalem!

Sickness

While last week was so very busy everyday with fun things happening, this week has just been very full of sickness. I was perfectly fine up until about 11pm Sunday night, and then I started feeling weird. Weird. Monday morning I walked to 8am class with my roommate and was telling her to not eat the snow on top of the trashcans, but that snow is gooooood. Hahahaha apparently I was pretty loopy? It is now Saturday and I can finally say that I feel like I am recovering! The only real remnants of my disease of the past week is my cold, and now it is manageable I think. Yesterday I did not think that.

Progress is wonderful. :)

I even feel like I can do some homework now! That has not happened much this week at all...a lot of sleeping has though. Apparently everyone in the world has been sick this week. Weird.

I'm ready to get back into the world now! Except now I have lots of hw to do. Yaaaaaaaay.

This Week

It has been a busy week! I feel like I have been doing stuff almost every night but it has been a lot of fun.

Monday: Went to dinner with my cousins at Cafe Rio. Yummmmmmm.

Tuesday: Waited in line to get a wristband for the big basketball game for the next day. I waited in line for 2 hours in the snowstorm, without being prepared for that snowstorm. Converse do not work well in snow I have decided from several experiences. I could literally  not feel my feet...

Wednesday: BASKETBALL GAME! BYU vs. SDSU and we dominated!!! Our entire team played well, but everyone's eyes were on Jimmer Fredette's performance. He did score 43 points that game...insane. I was at the game with 22,700ish other people and it was the loudest and craziest game I've ever been to. AWESOME and soooo high energy!

After the game, storming the court.

Final score!!!!

Thursday: Kylie, Megan, and myself went to our old bishop's house in Alpine to say hi to him and his wife, eat dinner with them, and talk to them about Jerusalem/show pictures. Bishop Pack interviewed us/signed our ecclesiastical endorsements for our application and he was so supportive and excited for us to go. Plus, he and Sis. Pack are truly awesome and we wanted to see them! So we went there for a few hours and had a great time.

Friday: Participated in the Human Blueberry Study! Hahaha that was interesting, I have 2 more Friday mornings with that. Went to work and filmed our meeting video for next week, and didn't really clean. That was fun. Plus it was payday. And I went to the men's opener Volleyball game vs. UC Irvine and we beat them the first 3 matches. Awesome again. I got #9 to sign my poster, he is from Brazil and was sooo nice to us!

Saturday: Cleaning checks in the am. Library in the afternoon (Tzarayim Tovim). Acoustic rave in the pm, where I listened to amazing talent and desperately wished that I knew how to play the guitar. Dangit. Someday I PROMISE MYSELF!!!

Sunday (today): Church was awesome. Sacrament/sunday school the speakers talked about the spirit and being born again, 3rd hour was combined and we talked about dating and the maladies of dating. It was a great lesson, and everyone has ideas and actions that they need to work on. I need to be better about putting myself out there and talking to people more. But I'm trying!

This week has involved homework and classes and a balance of fun and other good stuff. That is what I'm trying to work on...including all parts of life that are important. Not too much school, not too much laziness, not too much partying. Balance. This will never be perfected, but I feel like I'm getting better at it. 

I love my roommates too. We have had some funny times the past week!

Face mask/girls night

Genie pants :)

LIFE IS GOOD :) 

Jillian Michaels is insane!

About a year and a half ago now, during the summer of 09, I decided to get into good shape again and was really motivated and I used Jillian Michael's workout videos to get there. It was successful, and I was happy. The past year I have felt like hurting myself a lot:

*tendonitis in left foot
*sprain right ankle (minor) at Half Dome
*sprain left ankle (major) in Jerusalem
*get sick here and there

Its been pretty ridiculous. All of that spread out, combined with not feeling super motivated, I have not been in the best of shape the past year.

I'm hoping to get back into it. Last week I went on a few short runs, Saturday I did a 20 minute Jillian video, and then last night my roommate and I did one of her hour long workout videos. I did that video right after eating an entire Cafe Rio burrito...that wasn't the smartest, but we both got through the video and were exhausted afterwards.

In the video Jillian says "You should be praying for death right about now, it's so hard." Well, I was not praying for death, but Jillian Michaels really is an insane person sometimes.


She looks slightly demonic here HAHAHA

WYOMING

So Friday I left for Wyoming with some Jeru friends and we drove the ~4 hours to Star Valley. My weekend was full of amazing friends, TONS of laughs, great adventures, good food, and just lots and lots of fun. :) I'm so glad I got to go see more people and enjoy my weekend in the snow!

Driving in Wyoming=BEAUTIFUL

We slept in a snow cave/igloo with 7 girls when its supposed to only fit 5 people...needless to say the cave decided to drip on us and we were a little cold sleeping that night...haha such an adventure!!

Me in front of the IGLOO!!!

View of RaeLynn's barn. The house is not in this picture. It had been snowing for awhile when we left.

Some of us getting ready to leave :( Lots of snow meant we had to push the cars out of the driveway!

I had a great time in Star Valley. We went sledding, snowshoeing, played lots of games inside (like Nerts, Settlers of *Zarahemla!, Loaded Questions, and Ultimate Spoons), laughed a ton, ate sooooo much food, and had a great weekend together! Thanks to RaeLynn for letting us come to her house this weekend and play!

Now my weekend is almost over :( Boo. But the good thing about a long weekend is that there is a short week coming up! :)

3-DAY WEEKEND!

I have decided that even though I am no longer in Jerusalem, I am going to keep updating my blog. Sometimes probably even about Jerusalem. Sometimes not at all. Sometimes more than others, just whenever I feel like it. I like writing on it :) Mostly for my personal benefit.

We are almost done with the first 2 weeks of school...after tomorrow. MLK Day has arrived almost and I am so excited to have a 3-day weekend! And I am most excited about it because tomorrow I am leaving Provo for a couple days and going to..........

WYOMING!

I know...random, right?

I love random adventures like spending a weekend in Star Valley, Wyoming because one of our Jerusalem friends invited anyone who wants to come to stay at her house.

I am excited to:

1. Be hanging outside/explore the place...I don't remember being in Wyoming before, though I'm sure I've driven through it and I know I've been to Yellowstone.

2. Be with Jerusalem people.

3. To not bring homework with me because I know that I wouldn't do it there. (Don't worry Mom, we're coming back Sunday so I'll have Monday to do it all...hahaha)

4. Roadtrip

5. Get out of Provo...just for a bit. Haha I've only been here 2 weeks and I don't dislike Provo, but I'm still not sad about leaving it!

6. Not have work on Monday! That wasn't even my plan!!!!! The office is closed for the holiday!

It's gonna be an awesome weekend :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

PS - Something awesome about today is that Condaleezaa Rice came and addressed BYU at a forum. She was the Secretary of State under President Bush. She gave a wonderful speech. Some of her points that I remember:

*I'm grateful that I am a part of a religion that is centered on family.

*Do something that I am passionate about. It's ok to change what you want to do in life right now, whether it be my major or career plans or life plans in general. Because I might be soooo grateful for it later on in life.

*Sometimes the most humble upbringings can give way to the most successful people. The key is hard work. "It doesn't matter where you came from. It matters where you're going."

*Make the most of the opportunities I have here at BYU. Take advantage of everything I can.

*I am grateful that there are willing soldiers in the United States Service who go do the jobs that nobody else wants to do. I am grateful for them and their sacrifices and that they are standing up for democracy. 

*I love that Dr. Rice is a black woman who held an extremely significant position in the United States government. I am glad that the world, at least the US, is accepting that women are important and that all races are equal.

Just some thoughts on that. And then after I went to that awesome forum, I went and did not so well on a Molecular Biology quiz. Hahaha life moves on!!!!!!!!! :) 

Utah

Utah is a cold place. I realize that there are much much much colder places in the world. But for right now all I am concerned about is that it is cold in Utah.



One good thing about Utah is that it means having a schedule again. I need a schedule to be productive. So productivity here I come!


Another amazing thing about Utah is I have run into several Jerusalem people the past couple days on campus and it is soooooo fun to see them!

Some of our group at Galilee :)

A bad thing about Utah and having a schedule is that classes will probably soon take over. Blaaaaaaaaah.