A Love Story

The west is so beautiful! I love it. I love it. I love it. If only I could strip it of it's endless shopping plazas and superWalmarts, then I could truly echo Brigham Young in saying, "this is the place." I love the way the pink sun hits every east face of the mountian in the morning! I love the clear air (okay, maybe that was a bit of an exageration since Provo has some of the worst air pollution), the blue skies. . . I know it's not always this nice during winter, but today it just feels so nice.

This morning Carrie and I woke up at 6am to go swimming with cath and Linny (we stayed at Fern's house last night). I felt strange knowing that I was swimming my last lap-- I love to swim and I love the water. It was a bitter departure. It made it a bit easier knowing that I was about to go eat french toast and blueberries. I love berries (orgin of love: the childrens book Blueberries for Sal).

Tonight we are going snowshoeing through Hobble Creek Canyon to the hot springs. I love the awkwardness of snowshoes and the hint of Lewis and Clarke pride when "discovering" natural hot pots. And I love my relationship with stars. . . like they were created just for me and for the simple enjoyment I get from looking at them. And, I love that they actually were.

Amidst all of these loves, I have found new loves. . . ones that I was less familiar with. I love the feeling I get when I read about people in the past who cared about me and my happiness-- Moroni, Nephi, Joseph Smith, the founding fathers and my own grandparents (that isn't new). I love my ancestors. I love my heritage. I love doing the right thing and I especially love the feeling of being unselfish (but it's hard to remember that one sometimes). And, I love people who are honest. Free from hypocrisy and dishonesty-- I love genuineness!

Zak once told me I didn't have the capacity to love-- but I always knew he was just annoyed with the fact that I did not have the capacity to love him. Now, I'm about to find new loves in my life-- bringing a message of hope, clarity and LOVE in an urban jungle to group of people I have never been able to communicate with. Wow, I sure do LOVE an adventure!

R.I.P.

I woke up this morning and went to the bathroom. Suddenly, a cold feeling came over me and I totally fainted! The next thing I knew I had a rug burn on my face and my head was pounding. I have never done that before. It felt weird.

GUESS WHAT?? I'm PACKING!!!! Mom is like having a personal assistant. She did my laundry, ran my errands, make kits (first aid, sewing etc), hemmed my clothes and checked off my "to do" lists. . . so this is what it's like to be rich! I am nearly done and anticipating my flight tomorrow and my weekend-o' fun. I have to admit that I'm trying not to think about Wed at noon, or the pre-mission jitters that I'll get the night before. . . actually, writing this is starting to give me that cold feeling again.

I feel like I'm dying. . .the "last time I'll do this," the goodbyes, the "Farwell" talk, the last minute emails and letters-- everything! John told me tonight that life will be completely different when I come back and it's pretty much like I am dead for the next year and a half. All of my friends moved on (literally) and trying to start all over again from scratch. I hope that's not totally true.

*Just for the record: Ryan--Emmanuel and I aren't "dating". . .and I doubt I'll be getting any huge boxes. But, he did say he'd write me a few letters in espanol. . . :)

Akita Manaeo

is a Lakota phrase meaning, "I am aware of my surroundings as I walk." I want to posses this quality. To live aware of the things around me and take pleasure in them, to grasp the joys instead of fleeting pain or repetitive thoughts. This evening at 5:30 I felt the urge for moving, so I decided which course was right for the day and I started off. The air was somewhere between warm and chilly and the sky was threatening the pale pinks and blues with darker shades of grey. . . but it was gently approaching. I was gliding tonight, instead of fighting the pavement with every hit of my shoe. I enjoyed the sky and how quickly it changed from the bottom of the hill to the top. I noticed the people I ran past and looked them directly in the eyes when I felt like it. I enjoyed the feeling of sweat and the absense of litter and cracked asphalt. When a song came on that I wanted to dance to, I danced. I didn't want to get into the car and drive home, but the thought of mom's lentil soup and fresh salad lured me back.

I was curious to see where I was exactly one year ago. This day last year, Jo and I were jumping snowmobiles with Andy and John through the farms of rexburg and drinking hot cocoa. We woke up 6 hours later and learned to roll kayaks with Blaine. Then I saw Rylee (Rach's baby) for the first time. Exactly two years ago today I was rock-climbing at Sticks and Stones with Jo and then watching a movie with Rick.

Tonight I went out with Emmanuel. He does so many things that surprise me-- things that I wouldn't expect him to notice or feel or think. I am guilty of sterotype.

Riding on the Mason-Dixon line

This morning I woke up to a shaggy blond haired two-year-old with huge blue-green eyes smiling right in my face. I must say, it's not so bad to wake up when someone is that excited to see you! These past few days have been a nice contrast to my three weeks solitude in Durham. . . I was beginning to go mad (and posting obsessivly) especially with the confinment of a snow storm.

Yesterday, Sarah and I wokeup early and headed over to Arundel Hills mall in Maryland-- it was full of oulet stores and I got everything else that I needed for my mission. Now it feels good to know that I am DONE . . . and in exactly one week and four hours, I will be entering the MTC doors (finally). Then, we came home and made a huge salad for dinner and went swimming at the University of Maryland pool. I must have felt some Michael Phelps energy (he used to swim there, ahhhh). . .because I was cutting through the water like a regular pro! I could feel my shoulders widening (eek) as I swam and It felt great to let the miles melt away as I swam to the rhythm of my own counting. Sarah and I were the only two people in the olympic size swimming pool. It even played music under the water. There was an entire heated pool for lap swimming as well and in the enormous locker room, they had everything you'd need (including a spinner for wet suits-- it made them almost completely dry in five-seconds. . . I was in awe). . . difinitely the zenith of my year swimming. I am content now, boxing up my suit for the next year and a half.

On Sunday I was bummed b/c church was canceled because of the snow storm. We played Settlers of Catan (I won-- hoo rah), cooked and took a walk in the Greenbelt National Park in the snow (it was so pretty, but we got lost for a while). Saturday was Jacob's second birthday. Sarah and I had stayed up all night making a cake (as seen below). Kevin (my brown haired accountant brother and self proclaimed "dating machine") took the metro from Crystal City (inner DC) to College Park (northern DC, UMD campus). The party was sooo cute! Afterwards, I rode the metro with him back and we hung out in that area for a while. His apartment is barren, but the veiw of the city makes up for the lacking inside. I rode the metro back and met these guys who just got back from Park City snowboarding. Their flight to NYC had been cancelled, so they were taking a bus up instead. It was fun to talk to them. I walked back to Sarah's from the Metro (2.5 m) in the snow. It felt really good to revisit the "sweating inside but numb outside" feeling of cold weather exercise.

Friday I went to the temple with my mom, dad, Sarah and James. It took almost the entire day. That's all I will say about that.
Well, we're about to go to the new Native American museam next to the capital. . .

The Dual Nature of Man

I just got back from the grocery store with Sarah-- the entire south-east is going crazy. I've never been in a grocery store so packed! I waited in line for an hour. . . meanwhile I was catching up on the latest celebrity gossip (from reliable sources like "In-touch" and "US"). Every single caption was from an area in my mission! I am going to the most materialistic place on earth, but trying to find the most humble people. . . what am I doing? My life has completely changed.

*Just for the record, the Paul Simon reference in the heading of my "me and julio" post was not the country song I was referring to in the first paragraph. The country song really was a VERY cheesy country song and "me and julio" was a reference to hangin out with Latino's (esp. since Emmanuel was from my 'schoolyard').

State of Emergency

That's right boys and girls, Wake county declared "a state of emergency" today as the snow grid-locked the streets. Normal 7 minute drives were now 4 1/2 hours long. So, parents have been unable to pick up their kids, people have been selling pizza's on the side of the road and complaints of "indecent exposure" have been filing into police stations (aka: after 5-9 hours in stopped highway traffic, finding a bathroom isn't an option). Over 3,000 students in 50 schools are stranded and well, spending the night and eating dinner in the cafeteria. A few buses finally pulled over into the local hospitals and decided to have the kids spend the night there because of slippery roads and tired students (it was 11:00). Shelters have been set up for others not able to get home, schools and businesses canceled tomorrow and my trip to DC is in limbo. Ahh, but that's not all. I was on my way to Chapel Hill, narrowly avoiding the pandemonium, to see Rachael and Erin when I got rear-ended by a Mercedes-Benz -- and yep, it was the green Corsica again (this time on the other side to even it out). Luckily, her car took it a little worse than mine and dad just wanted to know if it "was anything a can of spray paint couldn't fix". . . so I guess that women got off pretty easy. How much snow could stop traffic, strand thousands of people and cause over 700 wrecks all over the piedmont? Hold your breath, you Idahoans and Utahans. . .it was a whopping 3/4 inch of snow.

Prime Time

I leave for DC the day after tomorrow (the same day as the inauguration-- we'll be fighting traffic on the belt-line with the 6 million there to cheer or sneer "W" . . . oh brother). BUT-- I am SOOO excited to stay with Sarah and James in DC until next Wednesday (mom and dad are coming until Sat, but I'm flying home). Things are really starting to pile up now. . . the check lists, the dirty laundry, the "last time for this!" and all of the goodbyes.

*NOTE: The remainder of this post is not the ramblings of a wannabe waif. My motivation in posting is to prompt attention to nutrition, long-term health and disease prevention, physical stamina and the balance of body and spirit. Cheers to my brother.

After reading Ryan's blog, I had a mini-revelation. I am 22-years-old. My metablolism is at its hightest, my body won't look like this for long and with age quickly approaching I better take advantage of the PRIME of my life. Imeadiately I felt inspired get educated on my BMI and personal caloric intake. Afterall, I will spend my entire life eating, exercising and trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle, so now is as good a time as ever to smarten up. Like Ryan, I am surprised at how little the body needs. . . I kept thinking that during desert enlightenment (Spring Summit 04 shout out). Here we were, for three days hiking miles on biscuit root, a handful of peanuts and poopy-water. I was more fatigued than usual, but was surprised at how much energy I actually felt. Unfortunately eating is more of a hobby than a survial technique.

I clicked on the link and found that my BMI is healthy for my height and weight, but I'd rather be on the lower end of the allowed BMI, than in the middle. So, mom got out her nutrition books and I calculated my exact ideal body weight. I measured my wrist (if it's 6 1/2 inches for females you are considered "large boned"-- I never knew that was ligit and not some cop-out for big people)-- my wrist was in fact 6 1/2 inches. From there, I calculated that my exact ideal body weight is 4.85 pounds less than what I am at right now. By cutting 500 calories out of my diet (25% less), I can lose one pound per week (each pound of fat is a little over 3,000 calories). In one month I could be my ideal weight. I emphasize could, because with three MTC meals a day and only 30 minutes of exercise, I'll be visiting the alterations staff in less than a months time.

Ang's top 7 things past their PRIME:
7) after 6 years of use, my swimsuit has reached the "gravity phase" (lost its elasticity).
6) Powdered milk-- I've been through many milk phases, but I got over this one at about 5.
5) Cold weather-- everytime I think I love it, I feel it and remember I don't-- this mostly applies to states without the benifit of snow.
4) Letterman-- sorry Dave, but Conan is just funnier
3) the clean shave-- the lesson we should learn from Amish men-- grow beards!
2) Low Carb/ No Carb
1) this POST-- adios.

Me and Julio down by the schoolyard

Do ever find yourself stopping at a song on the radio that seems completely opposite your character and musical taste? There is this completely corny country song that just hits me in the right spot every time I hear it.

I spent the evening with about 10 hispanic guys and 1 girl. Emmanuel wanted me to come with them so that I could get used to hanging out with Latinos. I am starting to get more excited about teaching the spanish people. . . even though I messed up on the simplest phrases tonight! Instead of asking this girl where she was from, I stupidly said "donde esta?" (where are you?)! She looked at me and said, "who?" and then once we realized what happened, started cracking up. And then I said "me gusta zapatos" (I like shoes) instead of saying "I like your shoes"-- Victor was looked at me like, "so what, you like shoes. . . " At least they seem to have a sense of humor. And I thought of Jo tonight when Emmanuel did that thing where you throw the car in reverse and pull the e-break to flip the car around (like in the movies during car chases). That was a first for me.

Yesterday I went to UNC to chill with Erin. She hit the green corsica (our nicest one) when she backed out. . . it was actually kind of funny. I spent a lot of time helping her plan her trip to Utah for spring break! Just my luck. She finally comes to Utah and I'm leaving. I am so sleepy. . .

signed: "Publius"

I am reading the Federalist Papers. I had two impressions. First of all, I am very impressed that general population was so educated. These essays were written (by Hamilton, Jay and Madison) for the persuasion of the citizens of NY to believe in self-government. So much thought was put into creating a new government, and they addressed problems from so many angles. It made me wonder how our language evolved over the past 200 years or so. Second, I was caught up in thinking about James Madison and the contribution he made to our country at such a young age; he was a little older than me! What a progressive thinker! If I lived back then I would probably like to date him (or would that be courting?) Anyway. . . it made for interesting reading.

I just finished a book on the Amish people yesterday as well. Most of my romantic ideas about the Amish had already dissolved when I watched the documentary film "Devils Playground" that I saw last year about Rumspringa, so the book didn't come as much of surprise. It did have a few good quotes in it, but the woman who wrote it thought too highly of herself (she was not amish).

It's raining today. I haven't seen rain in a long time! I am going to the Spanish movie/pizza night with Emmanuel tonight. Vamos a practicar mi espanol con amigos latino (that' s totally wrong. I bet Randy, Cath, Sarah and Deener are all shaking their heads right now).

Pre-mission Molting (photo updated version)

I don't think I've ever anticipated Ground Hog day quite like this before.

Sunday night I drove down to Chapel Hill, listening to the sounds of "backporch" music (bluegrass/folk) on the UNC radio and admiring the trees and enjoying the warm weather. Rachael called, after I had finished eating almost 1/2 a tray of mud-cookies by myself, and asked me to come over. Naturally, I grabbed my keys and left. It is always good to see her. She is definitely one of the few consistants in my life (afterall, we were in nursrey together). She and I can talk for hours, sometimes escalating to an un-earthly noise level, about everything. Rylee (who just turned one in December) has 4 little teeth and even when she's "grumpy", she's so cheerful! I would have to say (even without my bias) that she is one of the cutest babies I have ever seen.

Yesterday my mom decided that for FHE we would have a special "mission" dinner for me. This has always been a tradition-- and it was still successful with just the three of us. She typed a quiz on LA (history/demographics) and cooked exactly what I had asked for "the works" salad and apple crisp. The table was decorated and a banner that said "Congratulations Angela LA, here she comes!" Then we had a mini-lesson on the Temple, took pictures of me with my fake name-tag (I'll post them soon) and watched Beauty and the Beast at my request. I am surprised at how much fun I can have with a couple of old people!

This morning I woke up, read the newspaper, ate granola and went swimming. The rest of my days I either run or swim, do errands, paper work, make phone calls, work on projects and occasionaly spend time with the few people that I still know around here. On the agenda for later: sew a green and a brown jumper for the mish, hang out with Rach & Erin, write my talk (my farwell is Sunday! eek), finish errands, go to DC next week and then fly back to NC later the next week, organize photos, finish art-projects and lots of other unimportant things! The sun is shining, and I am going outside. . .

Getting a little practice con el Libro de Mormon. . . yes, the name tag is fake (I borrowed the idea from Cath)


At the dinner-- me, dad and mom


Checkin' out the map-- I know, it's another picture of me. Thank goodness I'm not an only child. I could be in danger of becoming a narcisist-- notice the sign behind me--haha! CLAM, as the mission is affectionately known, is one of the smallest in land area (but there are almost twice as many latinos in LA county as there are people in Idaho! Interesting fact, ay? And there are a whopping 10 million people in LA county-- * demographics cited from LA 2000 census)

The year of the Hermana

The origin of the New Years resolution:

Yesterday in church we received a bit of a history lesson that I thought was pretty interesting. New Years resolutions date back about 3000 years (before the Christian Era) . Janus, a mythological Roman god, represented the new year. He had two faces-- one that faced forward and the other faced behind him. Janus represented being able to see the past (and past mistakes) while looking forward to the future. . . Romans believed that he represented their desire to change from the past while looking forward to a new year of development. Thus we get resolutions and January.

The revolution of my resolutions:

I found both of my resolution lists in my "Gustav Klimt" mini-notebook. Both times I was in the airplane with Catherine somewhere over middle america and starting a new college semester. Both times I resolved to "lose weight (an overall tone up job as well), get good grades, and read my scriptures intensly and scrupulously. " This year I want to avoid the usual New Year's "wish list" and actually make goals that are attainable and worthwhile. Also, the nature of my mission has sort of taken the routine out of this years goals. I'm not too worried about triathlons or scripture reading. . . if you know what I mean.

SO, here we go. . . New Year's 2005-- I don't think I've ever had such a good idea about what I'll be doing every single day. . . but at the same time absolutely NO idea about what I'll be doing every single day:

*Obedience-- I want to follow the rules and do what I am supposed to. For once in my life I'm hoping that I'll realize that the rules DO in fact apply to me.
*Control my appetites-- afterall, we are the only species designed with the ability to do this. I want to master myself and discipline my thoughts, my emotions and my stomach.
*Write in my journal daily-- I don't want to forget anything and I know if I don't write it down I will DEFINITELY forget it.
*Continually correspond-- write back to those that write me.
*Don't "seek the honors of man" -- I hope that my motivation for being a good missionary won't become the praise of others. I don't want to need reassurace from my Mission Pres. or elders/sisters to know that I'm doing my best.
*Optimista! -- good attitude and overall optimism for my life this year

Lost in Transition

I went on a date tonight. I think it was the first real date I have been on in a long time. Emmanuel (an affluant Argentine) greeted me with the traditional latino kiss on the cheek, followed by compliments, took me out to a fancy-shmancy Italian restaurant and then we walked through the park and ate Ben&Jerrys. We orded appetizers, I didn't split anything (not even the check) and just nibbled on things (like rich people who don't care if they "eat their money's worth" instead of the "last-chance-i'll-get-this-so-I-better-undo-my-top-button" college student) until we were full. I got a healthy helping of Argentine culture, a low-down on illegals and the inside scoop on Spanish-channel acting and Maimi business trips. Very interesting night, after all-- a different sort of adventure than I'm typically used to. I felt all my psuedo-feministic dating rituals die when he rejected my offer to help pay and said, "obviously you have never been out with a latino before." Obviously.

Now for Angela's athletic update: North Carolina has been unusually warm (a whoping 76 degrees yesterday!) and it was summertime-sweats yesterday post-workout. I was rockin' the big hills in my new kicks. Today I swam (I got new goggles and swim cap for Christmas) a mile and tomorrow I think I might bike to the trail and then run for a while again. Solo-style. . . not quite as motivating, but mentally rewarding.

Well, everyone is officially gone, and I am here alone with mom, dad and malibu for company. Luckily, I haven't gotten bored yet. This Lost Angela has a lot of work to do before heading off to Los Angeles. I have been trying to think of something to do to help with the Tsunami-relief effort (bizzake sale? lemonade stand?) and I feel sad about the state of the world and our priorities (I really do want to give something!!!), but was a little comforted upon hearing that MK and Ash (more commonly known as the Olsen-twins) donated a closet full of designer clothes to the homeless. I'm not exactly sure if "closet full" is measured in weight, volume or quantity-- but all I can say is at least someone is making a sacrifice. This is "All Things Considered"-- up next is a selection by Big Mountain bluegrass. . .

photo montage of the new year

Lindsey and I while making pizza's. . . I know these photos are starting to look the same, but I bet all of you guys can spot my sisters on campus now!


Happy New Year! Hatch Family tradition of stuffing newspaper in eachother's shirts and screaming while banging pots and pans. . . it's fun. Trust me.


Me, my mom (in her "dancing dress" -- I forgot to mention there's also a dance in the living room which doubles as "Hatch Dance Hall 2005" ) and linny-roo (this is not an accurate portrayal of what lindsey looks like. Her face is in fact much thinner.