Tuckers, Tuckers Everywhere!!

This week the Tucker family is in five different states!

I am in Idaho...as always.
Eli is in Utah going to school.
Seth is in North Caroline visiting Tucker cousins. (He flew all by himself through the Chicago airport.  I'm still not sure how he made it there alive.)
Mom, Meredith and Noah are in Kansas visiting some friends.
Dad and Zach are in Ohio...Zach at school and Dad all by his lonesome at home.  Thankfully, Zach is going home this weekend to do taxes with dad so they will keep each other company.

Wow, we are quite the travelers!

Next weekend I'm headed down to Utah on Friday for General Conference and Eli timed his mission papers perfectly so I will be able to be there when he opens his call!!

Peter Pan Syndrome

Anyone who's anyone and reads this blog knows that I'm terrible at making plans for live and deciding what I'm going to do.  Well, let me introduce you to one more option....go to China!!!

I'm starting to think I'm just running away from growing up.  The closer college graduation gets, the more I want to extend the college experience.  I mean, who wants to grow up anyway?!  There's all sorts of....responsibility.  Yeah, not ready for that yet.  

How about taking off for five months and going to Asia?  I could see the Great Wall of China (cross another wonder of the world off my bucket list), visit another continent (bringing my total to four), experience yet another amazing culture, meet some more adorable ninos (no idea how to say that-- or anything for that matter-- in Chinese) and a slew of other great things.  Why not?  It's not like it's super pressing to finish my last semester of school.  And once I graduate I'm going to feel obligated to be an adult.  This pre-graduation stuff is great.  I can explore the world!  Stay tuned.  No plans are set in stone until they are set in stone.  And even then I can change my mind.

I'm falling in love with these kids as we speak...

Cabin Fever

I was always so jealous when Brittany talked about spending the weekend with her family at their cabin in Utah.  It sounded like a blast being able to just relax and get away from everything in the world for a few days.  Well, my time has come!  I had the honor of accepting an invitation to spend Labor Day weekend with Brittany and her family.  It was my kind of vacation since it was traveling somewhere, but not having to be on-the-go constantly.  I had time to watch a movie or two, read my book, play some board games, go on a walk and eat delicious food.

We played LIFE...the original version.

View from the back.

Two moose we saw on our walk.

We fit 15 people into this cozy little cabin. 

An Arizona Adventure

 (This is going to be a lengthy post...just warning you.  I have separated the narration of the trip with a few funny stories so you can just read the funny moments if you wish :)

Narration
If you remember any posts from about a year ago you will remember my roommate, Whitney.  I think I mentioned her in every single post....   Whitney graduated last December and moved to Arizona to do her student teaching.  She ended up staying there, falling in love and getting married!  Alexis and I were lucky enough to drive down to AZ last Friday to spend some time with her before the big day and actually meet her Prince Charming.

I don't know when beef jerky became my travel food but before every trip I buy a bag of it.  Jack Links Peppered is my preference but I'll eat other stuff too.  Along with the jerky I also get some sort of nut mix.  I guess they just go together in my mind.  Oh, and chocolate.  Every road trip needs a good bag of chocolate.

We did the first nine hours of the trip on Friday, ending in Moapa, NV where we spent the night at Blake's house...he lives in the middle of nowhere.  Quite literally.

Saturday we did the last six hours of the trip and arrived in Mesa around four.  Whitney wasn't at her house when we got there so we drove to her school and met her there.  I may or may not have cried when giving her a hug for the first time in almost a year.  I miss her so so much!  I wish we could have gone to school with her but seeing her classroom was fun too.

Saturday night, Alexis and I went to dinner with another friend, Kevin Bird, who graduated Spring 2010 and is teaching first grade in Mesa.

Sunday we went to the singles ward with Whitney for her last time ever!  She and her fiance tried getting us to go to the dating class but it was full haha  We had dinner at the Buckley's home (her fiance's family) and it was DELICIOUS.  His mom made tamales and this taco soup that's the best I've ever had (I got the recipe before leaving).

Funny Story
Our old roommate, Kadi, is serving a mission in Mesa and we couldn't possible go to Mesa and not see her.  We got her address from her mother before leaving and decided to go Sunday night to see if we could find her.  We figured she had to be in around 9 or 9:30 so we got there a little before 9:00.  The address we had took us to a very nice neighborhood, nothing like the apartments we were expecting her to live in.  We had no idea what to do!  There were a bunch of cars out front and it looked like some sort of party going on so we didn't want to go knock on the door and ask if Sister missionaries lived there.

We waited in the car for 30 minutes when some people walked out of the house.  As one was going to his car I got out of ours and went to ask him if the Sisters lived there.  He said yes but he wasn't sure if they were home or not because they usually keep to themselves so we would have to go knock on the door and ask the family.  We did, and the dad invited us right in and took us to the back.  Apparently they live in a little house out back.  The mom ended up taking us back there although she was very hesitant to do so (quite understandably).

Alexis poked her head in first.  Honestly, I was expecting Kadi to scream at the sight of us but there was absolute SILENCE.  So I poked my head in and she was just staring at us in utter disbelief.  He face was priceless.  When she recovered from the shock she ran over to us, gave us each a massive hug and asked a million questions about what we were doing in AZ and how we found her.  We obviously couldn't stay long but it was good to surprise her and talk to her for a few minutes.

Alexis, Sister Baggett and I

Narration
Monday was a lot of errands and preparations for the wedding and reception the next day.  All the girls went to get their nails done, we packed up Whitney's room and took her stuff to their new apartment and Whitney had pictures taken.  That night we all went out to eat at Rustlers Rooste, where Whitney and Jared had their first date.  I tried rattlesnake!

Funny Story
I ran a stoplight in Mesa.  Twice.



The first time was not my fault!  I was following Whitney back to her apartment and had no idea where I was going.  She sped through the yellow and I had no choice but to speed through the red....

The second time was completely, totally, embarrassingly my fault.  Alexis and I were leaving the Buckley's and the exit from their neighborhood is onto a vary large five lane street.  I was in the lane to turn left and looked both ways.  One car was approaching from the left and a whole line from the right.  I was thinking this would be my chance to get out because if I missed this window I would have to wait for all the cars on the right to pass by.  I gunned it out of the neighborhood and halfway through the turn Alexis yells "YOU HAVE A RED LIGHT!!!!" but I was obviously in the middle of the street and could only keep going so I started yelling too.

I was mortified!  I don't know how I missed that I was at a light and not a stop sign.  It's not even like I ran a little stoplight in a one stoplight town.  I ran a stoplight across four lanes of traffic!!  I don't think I've ever run a light before and in a few days I ran two.

Narration
Tuesday was the big day!!  I woke up early with Whitney though she was off at 7:45 to get her hair done.  She came back after that for a few minutes and I snagged a picture with her.  Her last picture being a Nebeker....

We did a serious one too, don't worry.

The sealing was at 11:15 and we walked around the grounds some before they came out.

One of my goals for the trip was to take my picture with a palm tree.  They make me happy :)

I can't believe she's a married woman now!!!  I'm so unbelievably excited for her.  She's one of my best friends and deserves to be loved by someone for the rest of her life.

After the sealing we went back to Buckley Manor (Jared's grandparent's house which was AMAZING) to finish setting up for the reception at 6:00.  The reception was beautiful, as were the bride and groom.  Some of Whitney's students came and I enjoyed hearing stories from them about her as a teacher (she teaches 6th grade).

Here are a few pictures from the reception...

Alexis hiding the electrical equipment.

awwwwwwww

The bride and bridesmaids

All lit up at night.

It was sad to see her run out to the car and drive off.  I made sure to go through the line multiple times to give her a hug before that though!  We probably won't see each other again until either Alexis or I gets married...I miss her so I better get on that! ;)

Story
I guess it's not really a story, but my other goal for the trip was to get a picture with a cactus.  I'd never seen one in real life before so I was pretty excited.  This one was just in a random person's yard across from the reception.

Narration
We left Mesa at 6:30 Wednesday morning and didn't get back to Rexburg until 12:00 that night.  What a long car trip!!

Two Funny Stories
This was the only billboard we saw for miles in the middle of the desert...it about sums the surroundings up!

As we were driving I happened to look out the window and see signs for the Hoover Dam and got really excited.  The sad part is that we drove the exact same way down there AND I drove through that part and had NO IDEA I drove right over the Hoover Dam.  How in the world did I miss that?!?!?!  I remember telling Alexis it was funny they had signs saying "No Parking" along the bridge since who stops on the middle of a bridge.  Sure, I thought the view was neat but I didn't figure it would warrant stopping on a bridge.  Little did I know, I was driving over an American landmark.  I don't know why Alexis didn't say anything but she probably thought I was an idiot.

I convinced her to let us stop and walk around since I doubted I would ever go back again.

 Okay, just look at that bridge.  How in the world did they build that?!  This trip has caused me to really reflect on the genius of our ancestors who did not have computers and the technology we had, and yet they built great things.  Also, telephone lines.  Have you ever looked at them?  They go on forever in the middle of absolutely nowhere.  That must have been the most tedious job.  Thank you to the men who constructed them.  I greatly appreciate it.

Squatting at the Nevada- Arizona state line...I was in two time zones at once. Excuse my appearance.  It's what happens when you're in a car all day.

Narration
On the way back we also made stops at Blake's house (to pick him back up), the St. George temple, and a Chick-fil-A. 

All-in-all I would say it was a successful trip!  The countless hours of driving were definitely worth it.  It is a little ironic that I traveled 16 hours back to Rexburg the day that most students traveled away for Thanksgiving.  I spent the holiday with two roommates and an old fhe brother at Alexis's house so I wasn't totally without family.

Life is good :)

Home, Sweet Home

Remember this post about me wishing I could see Eli play football his senior year of high school?  Well my wish came true!!!  My mom called me last Monday wondering if I would like to come home for a weekend and I was sooooo excited.  I packed my bags Thursday night and went to SLC where I stayed the night with a friend.  Friday morning I flew to Detroit where my mom picked me up at the airport and headed to Lima.  I got to see Eli play football and Meredith and Seth play in their soccer games.  I also talked to old friends, got a massive hug from my band director, saw the band, went shopping with Eli, ate way too much Panera, and almost played Monopoly with Seth.  Here are some pictures from the weekend.

#42...I didn't get any good pictures of him actually playing...

Couldn't go to a football game and not get a Shawnee Dog!!!

Jr.

Yup, I'm officially a junior in college...and still have no idea what I'm going to do with my life.  It's not the end of the world, but I should probably get a plan together soon.

Well this semester isn't too bad so far.  MWF I'm in my epidemiology class at 7:45.  Then I stay in the same classroom for my next class, Health Communications.  This is an odd class in that it's just a lot of projects.  No lecture, no tests.  Just lots of outside work designing brochures, posters, displays, power points, PSAs, movies etc.  MW I have my baking class.  Monday is lecture and it's more the science of baking and then on Wednesday we get to work in the kitchens.  Tomorrow we're making french bread.  That will also be our practical midterm.  TT I have Nutrition through the Life Cycle at 8:00.  I took the pre-req for the class over a year ago so I'm only slightly struggling remembering everything I should.

I've done a crappy job with planning classes that have pre-req's because of work.  Instead of getting classes the next semester that correlate I just get whatever fits my schedule...oh well.  Too late to change any of that.

My last TT class is Foundations Capstone which is an analytical thinking/ moral judgment class.  In addition to classes I'm still working at the best job on campus from 10-1 every day.  Three hours seems like nothing after working 6-8 a day during the summer.  Although the pay is not quite as exciting....

So this was a pretty boring post but I felt like I should write something about school since that is the biggest chunk of life right now.

OH!!!!  I do have interesting news.  I might go to PERU this winter since Jerusalem fell though.  More details to come on that.

TODAY is great!

I'll give my family props.  Even though they totally abandoned me and took an awesome family vacation to Washington D.C., NYC, and Palmyra they found time to get me a souvenir.  

A lovely TODAY show apron signed by Matt Lauer!  They love me after all.

Liftoff

Ah I have so much to blog about.  I think I'll split up my thoughts over a few days though. 

First, I need to talk about my trip back to Idaho.  I had such an AMAZING experience.  I sat down next to a young looking couple on my flight from Dayton to Denver.  We exchanged the usual flight pleasantries and during that time I found out that they had just been attending a Bible research conference and they learned that I attended a private religious university in Idaho.  Really long story short, we ended up talking for the entire two hour flight.  We talked about being saved by grace verses works, the fall of Adam, missionary work, Joseph Smith's vision, the Book of Mormon, modern prophets and revelation, and so many other things!  I felt a little intimidated because they knew the Bible very well and were able to look up all sorts of scriptures to explain what their beliefs were.  I didn't have my copy of the Bible with me which was really frustrating because I know where certain passages are in my copy because they are marked, but don't know the exact references and couldn't find them quickly in theirs.  Sometimes if I just described a scripture to them they knew where to find it! 

The whole experience made me really realize how I do KNOW what I believe to be true.  They were extremely nice people and never in the entire conversation did they make me feel uncomfortable or make me question my own beliefs.  They were genuinely interested in what I believed.  And although there were many points that we differed on, the one thing we had in common is that we believe that Christ came to this earth to atone for our sins and that the only way we can be saved is though that great sacrifice.  I wish I could write about everything we talked about but that's unrealistic.  For now, the important thing is that I stood up for what I believed in for two hours.  I held a conversation about pretty heavy religious topics with people who were also firm in their faith.  I wish I was better at expressing what I believed on some subjects because I know I didn't do them justice but I have no regrets about the entire conversation.

BYU-Idaho is a great place and I love being surrounded by people who share my beliefs but sometimes I really miss living back east where I can have these types of conversations with people on a regular basis.      

I'm on a sugar high

Some days I have random thoughts and think to myself "I should blog!" ...and then I don't.  And I feel kind of bad because I don't want to write an entire post of completely weird and unrelated stories.  And then I remember it's my blog and I can do whatever I want!  Here goes....

A few weekends ago I went to Utah with Kadi, Alexis and Hillary.  We went to Provo Friday afternoon and I got to have ice cream with my best friend growing up, Heather Millett.  Friday night we drove back up to SLC and stayed the night with Alexis's brother and sister-in-law.  Saturday we went to Temple Square, saw seven brides in less than 20 minutes, got lost, and ate at Olive Garden before heading back to Rexburg that night.  It was a quick trip, but a good one.

At the BYU Mens' Volleyball game

 
 Last Saturday we had a non-Monday fhe activity at Alexis's house.  Her parents have a pool and racquetball court in their clubhouse so we went back there and had a little party.  We had pizza and cake (it was Travis's birthday that week),  sat in the hot tub, played water polo, watched the guys beat each other in racquetball, and had a blast!  It was amazing because we got ALL TWELVE of us there.  I don't think I've ever had an fhe activity before where absolutely everyone came.

Valentine's Day was spectacular for me this year!!!  No, no boyfriend BUT that just made it even better.  I got up at 5:30 to cook my roommates breakfast casserole.  Alexis got up a little later to make pancakes.  We even decorated the table cute.  So at 7:00 am we had a lovely roommate breakfast!  Later, Alexis and I baked some cookies that Lauren had made the dough for the night before.  Then Lauren and I decorated them for our Visiting Teaching sisters and they turned out excellent.  It was like a double whammy because we put them on top of cupcakes.  Lauren and I also made some V-day cards.  I quite enjoyed doing a craft since I don't do them that often anymore.  Monday night we went to our bishop's house for fhe and then I went to our brother's apartment to watch the old musical, The Band Wagon.  I much prefer Singin' in the Rain...this one was a little out there.....

Flying High...The Legal Way

If you’ve never flown in an airplane while listening to awesome airplane-flying-music (ie ET, Starwars, Stardust (my choice of music at the moment) etc) you are missing out…big time.  And if you’ve never flown in an airplane at all you are missing out…bigger time.  I love flying.  It’s a good thing I’m not scared of it since it’s basically the only way I can get to and from school…unless I want to drive 30 hours across cornfields and the great Midwest.  How amazing is it that I can travel the same distance in 5 ½ hours?!!?  Not including a 4 ½ layover in Chicago and waiting time...  But seriously.  Today I went 1,249 miles in 3 hours.  That’s 400 miles per hour.  When’s the last time you went that fast?  That’s what I thought.  I just gained a few points on the cool scale.  

I think I gain a greater appreciation for how monstrous our earth actually is while in a plane.  You can see so far, and yet it’s only a city or two.  And at the same time, I can go “through” Chicago in less than 10 minutes.  Talk about efficient.  I’m FLYING across the United States.  Can we really grasp how significant that is?  The pioneers walked, and walked, and walked, and walked, aaaaaand walked (were you singing the song there??  100 brownie points to you if you did!), and it took them MONTHS to get where I’m going in HOURS.  And I’m landing in SLC too.  How appropriate.   

I will admit that I am a little nervous during takeoff and landing.  For some reason I always think that the tail end of the plane is going to hit the ground before we lift off.  But I am always thankful when it doesn’t.

(Side note: I can’t stop eating these butter toffee cashews I bought earlier today…they are delightful)

Think about landing for a moment.  Again, I wish I knew exactly how long a runway is, but pilots have to be pretty skilled to get us to land precisely at the right moment.  Usually, if we were a few hundred feet lower a few hundred feet sooner we’d run into the highway, or a lake, or a neighborhood.  And of all the times I’ve flown, never once has my plane missed the runway.  For that, I am extremely grateful.

I like the people I meet when I fly.  I was just thinking how fun it would be to be a stewardess.  You’d meet so many interesting people!!  You’d get some weirdoes for sure but I’d like to meet myself if I was flying.  On my flight from Minnesota to North Carolina I sat a seat away from a guy that goes to BYU.  He’d only been back from his mission 3 days before flying out to school.  And he served in Provo haha  Of course the first thing my family asked when I told them was “What’s his name?  Did you get his phone number?!”  Sheesh.  You’d think I was 30 and unmarried with all the comments about marriage I get from them…mostly Zach.  The lady next to me was probably in her late 50s.  When she asked where I was from I said “Lima, OH.  There’s really nothing there.”  Then she exclaimed “Well GLEE takes place in Lima doesn’t it?!”  Apparently she and her whole family are huge Gleeks.  While waiting for this flight I talked to a girl who is also at BYUI (and from Columbus area), an old lady who used to be a nurse and knows the person with the highest IQ ever to graduate from WestPoint, and a girl on her way back to school in Wisconsin.      

Somehow on my flight from Chicago to SLC (which I’m sitting on now) I was lucky enough to get a row to myself.  I took my shoes (well commando boots) off and spread out.  It is now pitch black outside except for the occasional lights of the cities and towns down below.  I wish I knew where we were… So far I’ve been writing for 25 minutes.  I should rephrase that.  Since I’ve started writing it’s been 25 minutes.  I haven’t written continuously as I’ve had to take a few breaks to enjoy being thousands of feet about the earth.  If we’re going 400 m/h that means I’ve gone about 167 miles during this time.  HOLY CRAP!  (That was for Whitney…I had to work her name into this blog somehow)

An hour or so later….

I met another girl on the flight who going to BYUI.  We met outside the bathroom of all places.  And inside the bathroom all I could think of was the scene from Get Smart.  If you haven’t seen that movie you should.  My siblings and I can quote the whole thing.  You’ll never look at a bathroom on a plane the same way again.  And on a similar note…Boys: Is it really that hard to remember to put the seat down? 

 

By the way, Chicago O’Hare has the coolest toilet seat covers I’ve ever seen.  It was a plastic tube that covered the seat and when you waved your hand over a sensor, the toilet would rotate the part that was showing to the back so that fresh plastic was there for you to sit on…I’m really hoping that the old stuff just gets disposed of somewhere.  I guess the only down side to them is you have no idea where your seat cover is coming from….    

     

Dragonflies, Cute Butts, and a Lame Island Adventure

Well summer was a slight bummer.  I really like school and it's no secret I have ill feelings for Ohio so I was grateful to get out a week early and venture to WASHINGTON to stay with my roommate, Whitney! 

I shall start my documentation of this adventure at the beginning...the airport.  First, I left my phone in the car and literally had to run out of the airport to the car.  Luckily my dad hadn't pulled out yet.  Because of this, I broke the number one airport commandment: Don't leave your luggage unattended.  It's a good thing no one asked if anyone put something in without my knowledge because I wouldn't be able to answer completely honestly. 

I'm kind of a window seat girl and was excited to actually have one this flight.  As I made my way to the back of the plane I saw an old Indian lady sitting in MY window seat.  I decided right then and there to do my good deed for the day and took the middle seat without trying to sit by the window.  Had she tried to close the window shade, this story might be much more exciting than it is as I would have fought her...maybe.

Now, I have been in Washington before but that was quite some time ago...obviously I don't really remember it...

(from my scrapbook....)

My dragonfly!  It still has to be slumped into a tray.

I actually didn't do any mountain climbing this time, but I did do some new things!  Such as stained glass!

grinding the pieces into the right shape

Whitney and I went and saw a lot of beautiful places around her home.

In Lake Stevens

Seattle

Deception Pass

On Wednesday I went to Seattle with Whitney and her mom.  We had such a good time!!!  They took me to Pike's Place which was awesome.  I have decided I'm going to move to Seattle some day just so I can go there everyday to buy my produce.  They had the prettiest fruits and vegetables that were all fresh!  I wished we were leaving for Rexburg the next day so I could load up but alas, I settled for a pint of raspberries and we bough a peach from a very nice gentleman.  He even washed and cut it in half for us so we could eat it right then!  For all you Sleepless in Seattle lovers, Pike's Place is where Sam and his friend are walking down the road talking about cute butts...I meant to take a picture of my butt there but forgot (yes, I know you are all thankful for that!)

Seattle

"He has a cute butt.  Where have I heard that recently?"  "Everywhere.  Even on the news women are talking about cute butts"

FOOD!!!!!

Probably the most disgusting part of the entire trip was the gum wall.  Walking away from it I just felt like I had gum all over me.  We're lame though and forgot gum so I didn't contribute anything to the degredation of the environment.  You're welcome Al Gore.

I swear I'm not actually licking anything although it looks otherwise....

Another street in Pike's Place

My mom has always told me that I should get a job being a live statue somewhere so when I saw this guy I just had to get a picture with him!  Afterwards, I told him my life aspiration was to be just like him and a guy walking by laughed at me.  I think that's an insult to the statue...

Thursday night we took a ferry ride to an island to watch the sunset.  Sounds like a good, fun time right?  Wrong.  Well it was good and fun but the ferry ride was way more fun than the island.  We realized (after we got to the other side- carless) that there was nothing-- nothing-- to do.  So we did what all kids our age do when they're bored...take pictures of themselves. 

goofing off on the ferry ride

<>

I have a slight obsession with Whitney's glasses

We found a phonebooth.....

Friday we spent the day at her grandparents house.  They were so funny!!  We played skip-bo, hand and foot, hillbilly golf, and just sat around and listened to stories.  That night we went to Deception Pass with her cousin for a scenic little view and hike.

We might be slightly crazy but that's what I love about us!!  We are comfortable in our own skin and don't get embarrassed easily...especially infront of each other.  One week ago I couldn't wait to get back to Rexburg to go to school and now I'm not so sure.  I love Washington.  And I still love Whitney and can't wait to room with her this fall.  Her dad asked if this weekend ruined the next three months but it definitely has not!!  We've had tons of fun times (many moments of laughter not noted) and I'm sure our 12 hour drive to Rexburg on Monday will be filled with even more hilarious moments :)