I hope they call me on a mission!

Well, I've officially submitted my mission papers! What does this mean?

• I'm going on a mission!!
• I will be gone for 18 months.
• I don't know where I'll go yet - I don't get any say in the matter (it's all up to Heavenly Father!)
• I don't know when I'll go - I put Jan. 1 as my availability date, but it's not likely that I'll leave that soon.
• I will be preaching the gospel every day!

Now, this was totally unexpected. Before a few months ago, girls couldn't leave on missions until they were 21. But then General Conference came along (a big gathering of members all across the world where we listen to prophets and apostles of our church), and our prophet, Thomas S. Monson, made the announcement that changed a lot of lives:

CRAZY. My heart pounds so hard every time I watch it! I was just sitting there, watching conference on a projector in our little church building in Italy, when all of a sudden a wrench was thrown into my future plans. A huge, amazing wrench! You see, I wasn't really planning on serving a mission. I wasn't opposed to the idea, but I figured that by the time I was 21, I'd have a lot of other things going on and I wouldn't be able to go. But now? Perfect timing!

It didn't take long to make the decision to go on a mission after I heard the announcement. Usually I cannot make a decision to save my life, but this one was strangely easy! I guess it was really important that I get this one right.

I am so excited to spend a year and a half serving the Lord and teaching people the gospel. I already feel love for the people I will be serving, even though I don't know who or where they are, haha. Of course I'm also super nervous - If I weren't then I just wouldn't be the Panicky Pigeon, now would I? But that's okay, because I know this will be the experience of a lifetime.

Everyone in my family is freaking out about my mission call - it should come in a couple weeks, and then I will find out when and where I'm going! I, strangely enough, am not too worried about it. I know that wherever I get called will be where I'm supposed to go, and I'm not too picky anyway. Nobody told me that the most nerve-racking part would not be where I'll go, but the fact that I am going!

I know this church is true, and I cannot wait to find out where I'll spend the next year and a half! If you have any questions, please ask me because I LOVE talking about this!

DREAMS DO COME TRUE

All my life since a few years ago, I have dreamed of making a font of my own handwriting. Maybe it comes from my aforementioned obsession with preserving myself (note to self: research that), but for some reason it became a serious goal of mine to someday create my own font. I found a computer program that would assist me in my quest, and I was going to ask for it for Christmas.
One fine day, I pinterested upon an iPad app that lets you create your own fonts. I was so excited! It's called iFontMaker, and it was like $6.99! AND NOW I CAN MAKE ALL THE FONTS I WANT!!!!! So, without further ado, I'd like to present "AnnesFirstFont," a very creatively named font, if I do say so myself:

I started by writing the alphabet down on a piece of paper without really thinking about it (you know, so that I would have something to reference when I inevitably panicked and forgot what my real handwriting looks like). Then I just followed the prompts on the app, and voila! (or do I say "ecco!" now?), my own personal handwriting app was ready to use! If only I had better handwriting... But I really wanted to stay true to my real handwriting, so I left all my letters how I really write them, even if I know they look stupid. So let's all say a little prayer of thanks that I finally learned how to write my 9's - no joke, I used to be laughed at for them, and I remember being told "that is the worst way of writing a 9 I have ever seen!" on more than one occasion... I finally learned about halfway through high school.
Anyway, I have finally come to terms with my sloppy, juvenile quirky, unique handwriting. I've embraced it! It's the product of hiding my homeschool handwriting workbook so I wouldn't have to do it and basically being a Hopkin girl (sorry, sisters - we have to be the worst at handwriting. EVER). It's got... Character?