Mission Prep and Super Dads

Sure tomorrow is Mother's Day, but that is tomorrow. Today my dad did me the BIGGEST FAVOR EVER:

Get my mission luggage!!

After a very long day of browsing/information gathering, my mom and I were plum tired of looking at luggage. It seemed like the cheap luggage was poorly made and not the prettiest. Mind you, I am NOT picky about what my luggage looks like, but I'm sorry, no spider-infested green bag for me (thank you, TJMax). The very nice, desirable luggage was always (not sometimes, but always) for waaaay too much money. I just wanted a simple set of luggage that would do me proud when I needed it to and looked kind of okay and really just protected my stuff against the torrents in the airport security bag demolition derby! Is that too much to ask? (agh.)

  The airline industry is one stinky place, I've decided. Besides having to pay extra for everything on your ticket, to get a lot of nothing (Southwest peanut, anyone? Though I must say, I'm more loyal to Southwest than any other airline), the luggage issue is a nightmare. No one wants to pay extra money to check more luggage, so luggage sets are not sold conveniently for 18-month excursions where you just plan on checking several bags and will probably go over the 50 lb limit anyway, because how else are you going to take 18 months of life with you? Exactly.

So this is what I looked like last night after searching all day...

The day-long search for the RIGHT luggage = no such luck. That plus watching the increasingly resonating heartache of Toy Story 3 (moving away, saying goodbye, change...) and missing chewing good food (when has a hot dog EVER sounded good? never. My point exactly) proved to be too much of an emotional roller coaster for one day. 

So my dad decided to join the hunt. After scoring over reviews and websites, he took off today on a mission to search out some luggage. And he found the perfect set! For a very reasonable price. (And my mom and I didn't have to do the thinking, deciding, determining...) what a HUGE RELIEF. And now I will always think of my Dad when I get lost in the airport or try to stick my luggage in some obscure corner in a tiny apartment after a transfer... :)

Dad purchased. Mom tested. Missionary approves.

Hooray!

THIS IS SUCH A HUGE RELIEF. Thanks to one very great dad!

Another great thing my dad did for me this week was buy me some flowers for getting my wisdom teeth pulled. They are beautiful, and cheery, and made one nauseated girl very happy. I had thought earlier in the day how nice would it be to get flowers, but really didn't expect that from anyone. Thank you Dad! 

So how's the mission preparations going, you wonder? Well, here are my "To Do" lists and "To Buy" lists...

The "To Do" list... yikes

The "To Buy" list... double yikes

Shopping for clothes is always exciting, involved, and usually pretty fun, if you find the right stuff... we'll see what I end up with.

The closet. Hooray for good return policies, Ross, and New York & Company.

Things are going well! :) I love reading Preach My Gospel, playing the hymns, studying the scriptures, spending time with my parents, personal pep-talks. Everything is preparation of some sort, no matter what it is or what form it comes in, and not just for a mission. I've really come to learn that everything we're given, from the time of day we wake up to how we handle our impatience at the stoplight, is meant for us to learn and from which we should prepare. Everything will pass us by, whether we want it to or not, so it all depends on how we take it in the passing.

(And I've never known a missionary that had a stable, emotionally normal mission. That would just be boring, right? :)

MTC Countdown: report in 25 days

Word of the day:  curious \ KYUR-ee-us \ , adj; 1.  marked by a desire to investigate and learn.