Nauvoo

So about a week and a half ago my mom and I did a day trip up to Nauvoo, Illinois. I had never been there and she hasn't been there since she was a kid (and there really wasn't much there then). It was about a 4 hour drive up there so we left early in the morning and headed up. We went on we went on two different tour type wagon rides. One was around the town with historical stuff and the other was through woods and creek and such which was more of an inspirational ride with some history thrown in. For most of the time my camera's batteries were dead so sadly I don't have pictures from either one of the tours. We did go get batteries before we went up to the temple which was our main interest for the trip to begin with. We went in the temple separately since I can only do baptisms but it was amazing to be there and I wish I could have spent more time there!

Mom and I at the temple (It was REALLY windy all day)


"The Last Ride" Joseph and Hyrum Smith on there way to Carthage Jail with view of Nauvoo and the Mississppi River behind it


Nauvoo Temple- It was a gorgeous day!


We finished off the night with a little play put on by some of the older missionaries... it was cute and funny we thought it might have more historical aspects to it but it was mostly little made up stories that went along with some of the history. It was pretty enjoyable but I would have been fine without it. The trip was really good though and it was a great chance for my mom and I to spend some time just us without having to worry about everyday stuff!

~A Bientot

A little update

So I have been the absolute worst blogger in the last few months. Mostly I don't have a lot going on. I have been working full time at a preschool I am a teacher in a two year old classroom, where I spend most of my time potty-training/dancing/chasing/cleaning up cute little rascals who call me miss Mana. I have really enjoyed working in my classroom the lead teacher, Allison has been great to work with. We get along really well and have similar ideas on how to deal with the kids. (not that they are bad but just in how we work with them) I am going to be very sad to say goodbye to all of the kids, I only have 3 more days of work. They all have such unique personalities and it is always amazing what they can come up with at the age of two.
This is a picture of 9 out of the 14 of them. (Sunglasses are the cool thing in my class)


Right now I am spending most of my time packing, and making sure I have everything settled and figured out before I leave the Country! On May 30th I will be started my adventure to Japan! Although I won't make it to Japan until June 1st because of time change and a overnight layover in Chicago, this Saturday I will be leaving Columbia Missouri for about 3 months.

I am going to be studying abroad in Iida, Japan this summer. I will be working on Bunraku Puppets, Japanese, and maybe some Taiyo (chanting/narrating), Taiko Drums and Kyudo (Japanese traditional archery)... and of course eating some delicious
food! I will try my best to do a better job at posting while I am in Japan.

Another development is a possible trip to Turkey! The Bunraku Bay Puppet Troupe has been invited to perform in a street festival in Istanbul, Turkey August 13th-17th. So I will be headed that way at the end of the summer as long as every goes accordingly. We did wonder why, if they were paying for a group to fly there why they are asking the amateur college group rather than the professionals... but we aren't going to complain!

So my life at the moment consists of Packing, Shopping, Cleaning, Working, and Planning train/bus routes because I only have 4 more days before I leave!

~Jaa Mata ne (see you later... I have to practice)