hey!! :)

So here I am! I really did want to write about my date and the fun stuff that we did. I drove out to his house in St. Joe and then we went out to dinner at this fun place called Clementine's. Then we went to the "tourist part" of St. Joe. We walked around by all the lights and the cute shops and the funny snowmen. That was really cool. Then we drove by the lake but didn't get out to see it closer because it was too cold!! brrr! haha. Then we went back to his house, and I met his family. I had met most of them before but didn't know them beyond their names. They seemed really fun and nice. I did meet his 13-year-old twin sisters for the first time - one plays violin and the other plays viola! yeah! awesome. They are really cute. They both gave me a mini-concert and I played a bit for them and talked with them about string instruments lol. Then Justin took me out to see the new house they are going to move in to. It was neat because it had a big horse barn in the back! I guess I'm not used to country stuff so I enjoyed it that much more, haha. Well, when I was finally about to leave.. my car wouldn't start.. it has had a bad habit of that lately. I am really glad that Justin knows a lot about cars, so he was able to get it running again.. but there's more. hahaha. On my way home, my car was acting funny.. so I called Justin for advice - I was kinda freaking out because it was something that never happened before. He said I'd make it home and just to keep going, but he basically talked me through it and gave me advice on what to do when I got home. I made it to 131, and then I said.. maybe I should say a prayer. And it started working! That thing runs on faith, I tell ya. He was really nice about it - he was like, if it acts up again just give me a call back, okay? =)
So that was Saturday.
Sunday, Sunday - welfare meeting and then preparing for my lesson. I thought it turned out well, mostly because of the sisters and the spirit - hardly because of my teaching skills, but that isn't what is important. :) Then later on that night Debbie, Sam, and I went to Annalaura, Jana, and Lillian's apartment to enjoy brownies and "storytime" with the missionaries. At the end, they taught Sam about the Plan of Salvation and committed him and Debbie to reading the Book of Mormon together - how cute. I think that will be a really good thing for them, and has potential for good spiritual experiences together.
On the way home, though, we got into a discussion about proposition 8.. yikes! No matter what we said - and I thought that we were saying everything we could - he just could not get over it. But I was proud of Debbie for standing up. Maybe when he learns more he'll understand better.

Monday, let's see - I think it was just work and sorting through clothes to pack and give away.

Tuesday, more work - and then hanging out with a friend. I played a "mini concert" for him and then we went to a Mexican restaurant and talked about life, and relationships haha, and other stuff. That was fun. When I got home though, the weather was getting pretty bad. Debbie and Sam came here saying that the weather was terrible - so I stayed the night instead of going to Grand Rapids like I wanted. but at least I was able to do some more packing and then hang out with Debbie and Char and try to do some pilates, tae bo and then some cardio - but we stopped that since it was midnight and we were afraid to wake the people under us - haha! it was HILARIOUS though and so much fun to work out and feel ridiculous together.

Well, I'm going to write about yesterday in a different post because this is getting LONG!
Lots of love!
Stephi