Marissa Ilinois

So I was at work last night, and a guy at this table goes, " Wait you said your name is Marissa?" I said yes, and he said, " I spent most of my life in Marissa Illinois." Cool right? I never knew that there was a U.S. city that shared my name. Well.. I guess it's small enough that they refer to it as a village. We proceeded to chat about the name Marissa, which I was under the impression was of Hispanic origin. I'm not sure if I just made that up in my head or if I was given false information. :) Well the origin of the name is English, but the Greek translation changed it to having two s's. So turns out, my name is Greek. Well this got me interested in doing a little more research on my name. I guess my mom knew my true disposition from birth, because I made the discovery that Marissa means sea of bitterness. Ha Ha.. ok well maybe that has applied at times in my life, but I like to think of myself as this kind of sea generally...

You know, calm and happy, but not boring. Enough sharks and crabs to defend myself if needs be. But most the time, with a "cheerful dispostion." What's in a name? I guess those who interact with me can decide! :) (Mom, you are not allowed to answer this question, anything you say or do can and will be held against you in a court of law.) :) P.S. I don't even remotely care the amount of my tax return. You can keep it for all I care. Ha ha JUST KIDDING! (For those of you who don't know what I'm referring to.. my mother is withholding my somewhat sizeable tax return from me. This is illegal, yes? I would like to think so. She is quite enjoying the fact that I don't know how much it is and that she's not giving it to me until the fall. I talked to her yesterday, she laughed a menacing laugh and said, "Ha ha, i'm not going to tell you how much your tax return is!".. in that obnoxious sing, songy voice. Well mom, I have stopped caring. See.. there's that cheerful disposition again! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BOY!

Well, Levi is officially the good old 2-1 today! I know he can't even read this, but I want to wish him a happy one anyway. I miss him dang it! I know it's hard for missionaries to be away from home for holidays and birthdays, but he's a trooper.. he'll survive! :) This is a picture his mom sent to me today of him opening his call. It made me smile. I don't know how many of you know this, but he kept his call a secret from his family until the day it arrived, the little bugger! :) Just a few fun facts about my boy..

He hates : Tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, peppers, and fish(most of which I don't like either), hypocrites, liars, and wimps.
He Loves: His family, his wardrobe:), A good Chicken Bacon Ranch sandwich at Subway, football, hard work, being a missionary.. and ME (Duh!)

There's a little scrape off the surface of Levi Glen Williams.. I hope he has a great birthday! I decided to have some balloons delivered to him today.. it better make him smile when he gets 12 happy birthday balloons!
HAPPY DAY OF YOUR BIRTH MY LOVE!

I was thinking today..

I don't usually post without any pictures.. but forewarning, I about to do one of those all word kind of posts. I was thinking this morning about my life and how great it is. Then I was thinking about a talk I had with a friend the other night about life in general. It got me to thinking.. I have realized many things in my life that are inevitable and I am finally starting to just get used to it all! I am not a perfect girl. I spill things a lot. My hair doesn't always stay in place. Sometimes I just DON'T care. I am very clumsy. Sometimes I say stupid things. I like to stay up late and sleep in even later. I leave dishes in the sink. I bite my nails. I really like to eat. I sell myself short a lot. Sometimes I am spacey. I waste a lot of time. I can’t keep my room clean to save my life. I have made mistakes when I knew better. I am easily distracted. I wish I worked out more. I wish I saved more money. Some days nothing goes right in my world, and most days it is all my fault. But when I think about it and take a step back, I realize just how amazing life truly is and maybe, just maybe, I like being imperfect. Honestly, I think it's all our imperfections that make us realize the things in life we CAN do perfectly. If we didn't have the bad there would be no such thing as the good. Right? Right. So on that note I found this next quote on a friend's facebook and it is SO true. I have realized all of this in the last while. "Life isn't about keeping score. It's not about how many people call you and it's not about who you've dated, are dating, or haven't dated at all. It isn't about who you've kissed, what sport you play, or which guy or girl likes you. It's not about your shoes or your hair or the color of your skin or where you live or go to school. In fact, it's not about grades, money, clothes, or colleges that accept you or not. Life isn't about if you have lots of friends, or if you are alone, and it's not about how accepted or unaccepted you are. Life just isn't about all that. But life is about who you love and who you hurt. It's about how you feel about yourself. It's about trust, happiness and compassion. It's about sticking up for your friends and replacing inner hate with love. Life is about avoiding jealousy, overcoming ignorance, building confidence, and forgiving those that have wronged you. It's about what you say and what you mean. It's about seeing people for who they are and not what they have. Most of all, it's about choosing to use your life to touch someone else's in a way that could never have been achieved otherwise. These choices are what life's all about." Yup, so true.

Saving the world, one bottle at a time..

When I first saw these on TV I thought they were rather ridiculous.. but I kind of like the idea now.. and I kind of like the water. Plus, they get really cold really a lot faster than other bottled water! Which is my favorite part!

*Is made with 30% less plastic than the average half-liter bottle
*Features a new label that's 30% smaller
*Is 100% recyclable
*Is flexible so it's easier to crush for recycling
*Easy to Carry

What's ya'lls opinion on these newfangled gadgets? :)

Oyster Shooters=So GROSS.

So last night I went to dinner with some friends at a place named Mario's. The food.. eh.. ok it was pretty authentic Mexican...not bad. However, afterward one guy at the table got this bright idea that we should all do oyster shooters, virgin of course! THEY WERE SO SICK! It was the one, and only time I will ever do it! They got to the table in the yucky tomato juice or whatever that is and the oyster looked like a tape worm. I am really just still trying to figure out what the point is! I found these ones on foodnetwork.com.. so I guess that real people do eat them on purpose. I guess if there's vodka in them it's a different story...

How wierd is this!?

MyHeritage: Celebrity Morph - Family search - Hispanic genealogy

This is a good feeling.

So this has been a very eventful, miraculous week. It has all happened so fast and has been amazing. I introduced my friend Melissa to the gospel, and invited her to church. She came last Sunday, and was intrigued very quickly. After church that day, the missionaries came over to teach her the first lesson. Then that Wednesday we had a second lesson and she asked if she could be baptized. She said, "I'll just make it easy for you, I know it's true, when can I be baptized?" It was crazy! It makes me feel so good that I had a part in bringing something so priceless into someone's life. She will be baptized on April 6th after the afternoon session of conference. I am exicted for her to watch it. It has brought an amazing spirit into my life taking the lessons with her. I am learning so much and the missionaries are great. I am very excited to continue to see what happens. I am getting a glimpse of what true missionary work is and it is giving me such a desire to do more. It totally is a testimony builder of how aware Heavenly Father is of our lives and how everything falls into place so perfectly. It is giving me a new perspective on how the Lord can use me as an instrument in his hands, and has been such a blessing. I love how something so simple as becoming someone's friend can make all the difference. I hope that I can continue to have missionary experiences like this one. Cheesy possibly, but it has made me feel good that while Levi has been away serving his mission, that I am getting the opportunity to do it here. The Lord knows what I needed, I am now way more willing and able to listen to promptings of the spirit to share the gospel. I am going to lunch with another friend from work next week, and I'm sure it will come up because we've talked about the gospel before. Anyway, yay for missionary work! Try it I dare you, you will feel so GOOD! :)

To answer Korianne's question...

Yes, here is what I do on these beautiful shoes! :) Alicia came over and we had a fun little photo shoot! I am learning some pointe.. slowly but surely, and am also learning to hate the word sickling! Just ask Jessica! :) Hopefully one day I can be pretty good! ( and not sickle my feet) :0)

Aren't they pretty!?

Gosh I just love these guys. I have been doing a little practice for pointe in dance classes at BYUI so I decided it was high time to get me some of these! I am better at admiring them than at dancing on them, mind you, but I am practicing. My sister in law Jessica has given me a few "mini lessons" and one day soon we're going to go full on! I am no prima ballerina but I sure do love them!

Clean Sheets

Don't you just love clothes fresh out of the dryer? Well, I have never had a love affair such as the one I am having right now! For some reason my clean, right out of the dryer sheets are calling my name LOUDLY. I do love my bed. I have this amazing down comforter, except it's the fake kind of down so you don't get poked by any stupid feathers. Its like sleeping under a whole lot of marshmallows actually. :) I LOVE my bed! Doesn't it just look cozy and inviting!?

New Blonde Locks

Yes, I took a few pictures of myself.. but only to show a detailed example of my hair! :) I was really putting off getting my hair done because down here it's SOOO expensive! I called around to a few salons and they said it would start at 90$ just to get my roots touched up! So, I took a slight risk and went to a beauty school. Four hours and 25 bucks later, I ended up with perfectly highlighted hair! I was so glad with the results.. whaddaya think?

The US Postal Service gets a whole lot of my money..

Ok, so I was thinking today how much I use the USPS.. and how much money of mine they get.
Here's a few of my big things
1. I send a letter to Levi EVERY week.. That is 42 cents a week, which is soon going up to 43 cents p.s. so.. by the time the two years is up, we will both have spent 43.63.. that's not to mention the packages I send for holidays and just because.. adds up to about 10 holidays total.
2. Last week I mailed a package to Jenny and Katie for their birthday
3. Today I mailed Tanner a package for his birthday
4. I also mailed baby Kennedy a being born present today
It was pretty funny, the mail lady in the Westminster mall and I are good friends. Her name is Dorothy. She's nice. I went today for a job interview( I now work at Bath and Body works) and I mailed Tanner's gift. Then I was browsing in Gap and found something for Kennedy, so I decided to just mail it while I was there. Well Dorothy says, " you come in here often enough I figure I should ask your name." ha ha, thus started the friendship of Dorothy and Marissa.

One strange morning...

So... this morning I hear a knock on the door, David comes in and says quietly and quickly, " Marissa, did you leave the back door open?" I say "no" and he says, "ok, stay in your room." and he leaves.. I then hear him ask Mimi if she left the door open. At this point, I am really creeped out! I then hear him moving through the house, opening doors and looking in closets. Ok, at this point, I am just really glad that David was here! Somebody broke in last night. At about five, David was in a dead sleep and woke up and had this feeling that he should get up. He went downstairs and the back sliding door was flung all the way open. We rarely use it.. and it stays locked pretty much all the time. Luckily, no one was still in the house, and as far as we can tell, nothing is missing. If they had wanted a quicky grab, my brand new pointe shoes were sitting right there on the table, and so was Tanner's birthday present from AE.. but those were still there.. David is convinced they were after the TV, and when they noticed it was too big and fat for them, they left. :) Anyway.. the cops came it it was all fun and games after that. The cop asked David and I if we would have had any boyfriends or girlfriends sneaking in or out.. ha ha.. no. So, they took down some names... our names, unfortunately no one got hauled into the station. A little creepy indeed..Lucky we had a guy here!

As promised.. sorry it took me forever!

So, below are the fun pictures from the cruise. The Pedersens are the awesome family I went with. They paid for EVERYTHING. My flight to Utah to get on the flight to Florida, and my whole cruise cost. And then paid me for my help with the kids. I was so lucky to be able to go. Oh, and we ate a lot of steak and got two massages! You can't get better than that! It was great to get a break from real life and soak up a little sun. The kids are so much fun, so we had a blast playing walkie talkie hide and seek, swimming with dolphins and in the pool, exploring, playing in the arcade, eating lots of good food.. and relaxing! Then the end of the trip was a lot of fun too.. we got to the airport in Salt lake and my flight back to Long Beach was supposed to leave in two hours. Well we had tossed around the idea of me staying for one more night to hang out with Rachael.. so I called Delta when we got there to arrange it. Well, since the flight was bought with sky miles they said they couldn't do a direct change. So, I told Rachael that it wouldn't work. Well then I called them back and we figured it out while Rach had to run back on the plane for something. I changed the flight to fly into Orange County instead and we got it all worked out for a 60$ fee, which Todd happily supplied. So, Andie said that we should keep it a surprise. We went down to the baggage claim, and they got their bags, we said goodbye, and they all left. So then Todd & Andie just came back around to the pick up and I went with them while Rach was in the other car. Well they were going to dinner at Cafe Rio, so we got there and I waited in the car for 5 minutes, so Rach didn't expect a thing. So I came inside, came up to them in line. It was like Rachael was seeing me, but not actually looking at me as I came in. So I walked over and said, " Hey while you're in line, will you get me a steak salad with both kinds of dressing like I like it?" She freaked out and was all kinds of excited and it was all really fun! So I spent the night, went to church the next day, and at the start of sacrament I get a text from Brady that says, "I'm here call me when your flight lands." Whoopsies.. he thought I got in at 10 AM and it was at 10 PM! So I called him and he said, ok, I will just wait here till you get here tonight. Ha ha.. (thanks for the effort Brayd) So then we ate dinner with the Pedersens, then drove to Kaysville to squeeze in a few (very few) minutes seeing Levi's mom. Oh, and then I almost missed my flight! As we were leaving his house, Rach slipped on the ice in the driveway and almost died, I thought she had a concussion. Anyway, I made it. And I didn't even have to butt in the security line this time. What can I say, I like to live on the risky side of life! All in all.. it was a GREAT week!

The Cruise!

The simpleness of this word

To those of you, which is most of you, who I do not use this word with often enough. I hope you know that I love you all. Funny, it's such an easy word to let slip from your lips, yet carries so much impact, I feel that it shouldn't be over used. But I do, love everyone who has influenced my life for the better. I love you. After all, "Love doesn't make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile. " Franklin P. Jones Thanks for making my ride worthwhile.

The FUNNIEST thing about today.

RECENT GOVERNMENT HEALTH WARNING:

DO NOT SWALLOW BUBBLE GUM

I'm going on a cruise!

Finally I have something somewhat interesting to post about... hallelujah! :) I'm going on a cruise to Mexico and Belize for the next week, the best part? Wait for it.. totally free!! I'm not going to pay a dime! I will explain, and post some pictures when I get back, mostly because I want to hold all ya'll in suspense! :)

For lack of anything better to say..

Just thought I would post some pictures of the end of Fall semester and Disneyland fun.. Yeah, this guy FORCED Megan, Kearis and I to participate. I'm pretty sure he thought Megan was cute.
I do my best work on a park bench at Disneyland.. Ok, this was after like 14 hours in Disneyland!
I LOVED this red and gold Belle dress. Seriously, if they had it in my size I would probably buy it. And, it was reversible for heaven sakes! Two dresses all rolled into one. One side is gold the other is red. I made Kearis try it on then spent like 15 minutes trying to get her to buy it. I wish I was 6 again dang it!
Ha ha this is outside the Haunted Mansion, I can find him everywhere I go! The whole thing says LEVI TATION. Ha ha Love it.
This is one of my very best friends Zane Gray, if there were no Levi Williams, there would most definately be a different kind of Zane Gray in my life.
Our Goodbye/ Birthday/ Graduation Party..
We are a bunch of posers and mom LOVES it, I know she does.
Oh look a Happy.. slightly odd family. I wonder what people wonder about all of us sometimes..
Ok looks like Levi, and Texas wins. :)
That's all folks! I feel that I do my best writing in pictures.. lets see I wrote 1,2,3..9000+ words tonight, phew, I am tired.

BJ's, My Home For The Next Nine Months

See.. I love this place already. It's like going to a party every night for work. Luckily, I got right back into the swing of things and most of the old people still work there, so no new friends to make! Yipee! Pretty fun stuff. Hope it stays that way for nine whole months!