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Take a look at the following picture...

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Ring any bells? Any light bulbs popping above your head? Does this trigger any distant memories of... oh, we'll say, one hundred and forty-two days ago? ...

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No?

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How about these pictures... What do they have in common with the first one?

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Did you figure it out? Maybe this one will help jog your memory...

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Okay. If you haven't figured it out by now then I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and say that you're new to this blog. More like new to my life. So just lemme esplain. This is a macintosh. Yes, you've seen one before. This guy belongs in the top five on my BFF list. But as some things go, we had to temporarily part ways since I was, like, leaving the country. This was very hard on both of us. A very emotional time. I mean, we were BFFs. Anyway. We sent my macintosh, (clarification: it's not really my macintosh, so to speak. But we're tight. And I don't think my mom is terribly offended by my expressions of attachment...) along with many other possessions.

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We sent all of that stuff at the beginning of May on PURPOSE... hoping that, by the time we arrived in early July, it would be waiting for us! Or at least coming soon... But due to the many bajillion issues we have had concerning French Visas... (aka it came a week before our departure. Yikes) our arrival was greeted with a notice saying our stuff was in a warehouse in SALT LAKE CITY, and could not progress until clarification on visas blabbity blah blah... So much for being welcomed by balloons or somethin...

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July turned to August, August to September. We decided to just think of it as coming at Christmas, so as A) not to jinx it and B) stop being disappointed. Well guyz, it's Christmas at our house. And there's enough paper and boxes around to prove it.

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Actually, let's just let some of these pictures tell the story.

My dad and the movers, Elvis and Nephi.

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Guyz, I heart movies. And as much as we love our little movie rental place... it just isn't cutting it for us. It'll be good to save 4000 francs every Friday night. My pick-of-the-pile: Sabrina

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For my birthday, my sis Brooke gave me the game wizard for my birthday. Unfortunately, it's not a two player game, and occasionally my mom and I have a few spare "chilling" minutes. As this includes a standard deck of cards we used these for different purposes (aka the 2 of hearts is a lot dirtier than the wizard card)... Let's just say that I will challenge any of you to a game of Crazy 8s or Rummy and I will win! Also featured in this picture are puzzles. Which I like muchos as well. :) Game pick-of-the-pile: Apples to Apples. Puzzle pick of the pile: James C. Christensen's Fairy Tales. Yes!

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This is one of my Grandmother's paintings. So glad to be able to have some of these in our home here.

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Each shoe has a story. And each shoe is something OTHER than my black flip flops that have been worn every day of my life here practically... My star and polka dot shoes are both extremely lucky (just ask Megan - she'll tell you!) and my brown flip flops... just aren't black. And they'll match brown things. We have excited plaid-ness, plus basketball shoes (YAY) and my sparkilified-too-tall-can't-walk-in-formal-dance-heels. Um, like I'll use them here.. but it's nice to know I have them! Pick-of-the-pile: ...gotta be the polka dots. Seriously folks.

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I'm am almost 100% positive that the people of Tahiti believe that the only outfit I own is my run-down pair of blue soccer shorts, a choice between a white or gray t-shirt, and then my brown skirt on Sunday. In all reality, I do have clothes... I just have literally been living out of a suitcase for five months. So I'm quite excited to have something new to wear. Like, really. Pick-of-the-pile: my basketball fleece blanket. I've been sleeping with a sheet since I got here... and while I don't need it for warmth - it IS nice for comfort. :) (Oooh ooh! We also got normal pillows! Very exciting indeed!!)

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Another thing I'm very excited about is getting to know a few more books. When I was a kid, I read all the time. I've read a lot of books in my life but once ninth and tenth grade rolled around I was up until two-thirty doing homework rather than stuck in a good book... Anway we're a book-lovin' family, and what we brought is enough to keep me busy for two years I think. But take a look at the picture in the top right corner of my desk - there are lots of fun treasures to find here. It's like "Where's Waldo." Featured here are deoderant, contact solution, an ACT prep book, Bop it, and my favorite relaxing frog-guy. Anyway. Pick-of-the-pile: The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum. Love the movies. Want to read the book.

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Um, yes :) I'm excited about the basketballs especially. Pick-of-the-pile: uh.. the blue and white one? Lol.

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Yes! Ensigns!

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This is the part where I start to wonder why I brought some of the things I did. Like this... elephant... thing... But hey, it's awesome so why not?! I can treasure the random U.S. pennies I find in here...

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This is my tiki man. My friend Chalyse gave him to me up at Girl's camp a couple years back. He is a good tiki man and he knows how to take care of a room. Nothing was ever stolen. This is, of course, good. I think he's excited to be out of a box though, dust can't do too much good for those twenty teeth of his...

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It really seems like just yesterday that Megan and Ben were spending way longer than they wanted to at my house, taking stars off my ceiling and listening to the same songs on the radio while I hyperventilated. We packed up my entire room and they helped me decide what to keep and what to trash, or what to go without.

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These beginning three months have been a pain, but as bad as it was I have learned that I really CAN live without everything. (As long as there's internet access within a five-mile radius.) It's a time I'll always remember, and it's good to stop and think about the blessings we do have. Like air conditioning.