self-diagnosed.

i have realized that i am a photo-hoarder.

i always take pictures and then keep them to myself for months and months and finally post them when they are way past due.

there, i said it.

does it help that i resolve to do better?

starting now.

i have been home for the past week.

& here are some of the things going on at my house:

{starting from the top left}

1. peyton still doesn't like me.

2. so she hides under the dining room chairs.

3. but at least these guys still like me.

4. mia really likes music.

5. and cupcakes.

6. this is how peyton gets in the christmas spirit.

7. and this is how kenzie does... actually paige got this for christmas. hat, scarf, and mittens all in one!

8. skyping elder beaton. he comes home on april 2nd!

that's all for now.

love,

lo.

recap.

i can't believe how fast this semester has gone.

here i am in the midst of finals, one more to go and then i just need to settle things here before i head home for two weeks.

so a little recap of what's been happening here in p-town.

1. i tried replacing the interior door handle on my car. i just watched a youtube video and did the rest by myself. i ordered the new handle, took off the door panel and assembled the new handle, and put the door panel back on. and it was successful! except that it needed a new linkage so as soon as everything was in place, i tried opening the door without success. i was kinda disappointed, but it was fine.

i brought my car into the shop with the new handle already on and the door panel off so they got pretty lucky if you ask me since i did most the work for them.

2. robby, kenzie, and my dad came to provo for thanksgiving, which was wonderful. it was the first time i had family in provo for thanksgiving.

here are our adventures in salt lake city:

the cutest kids playing their instruments outside temple square:

and in provo:

shameless selfie:

3. it snowed. finally. and when it came it didn't hold anything back. it has been so cold and icy. no bueno.

4. sister cisneros left for the mtc! so glad i got to see her before she became an official missionary. i missed her so. i just hope brasil is prepared for her. :)

5. and last, but certainly not least, christmas festivities!

glad to see my family, but i'll miss my provo people.

happy christmas and a wondrous new year.

love,

lo.

do-it-yourself.

i am my mother's daughter.

i like doing things myself. no help.

and if i don't know how to do something, i will learn on my own and then do on my own.

and usually it works out.

a few months ago someone broke the handle on my car door.

one of the doors is already permanently child-locked so having two doors that were unable to be opened from the inside wasn't the most convenient thing ever.

i hate bringing my car in to the shop so i decided that this was probably something easy enough for me to fix on my own. i found the part on amazon and it was only ten dollars. it came in the mail a few days later. 

of course, the next day it snowed so there was no way i was going change it being unsheltered from the elements.

today, the weather was lovely so i decided to take advantage of it and fix my car handle.

i watched a very well made how-to video and i felt confident in my abilities to remove screws so i just went at it by myself. the door was a little harder to take off for me than for the guy in the video, but after a flexing a few muscles it was pretty easy. i took off the old handle and the door panel. i rigged the new handle into the locking mechanism thingy (cut me some slack- i don't do cars) and everything checked out. the lock was working and it was pulling the rod that is used to open the door. i put the door back on. the last corner of the door was a little harder to get on so i got gena's help and we figured out how to put the door on correctly. i got in the car, closed the door, pulled the handle, and BAM.

it didn't work.

don't ask me how.

everything was perfect.

i followed the video like a pro.

i was feeling so proud of myself for learning something new and succeeding with more ease than i had imagined, and then like a cannonball in the pit of my stomach, my success toppled over with the quick pull of a plastic door handle.

i took the whole door panel off again and i still can't figure out what is wrong with it, so i guess i will be taking it into the shop after all.

fail.

that's two fails in five days.

pictures intended to document my success:

notice the handle is completely broken off.

door panel successfully off.

 door handle successfully back on and handle intact.

now refer back to the second picture. 

because that is what my door still looks like now.

but then i remembered today, that despite having trouble with my almost-success story,

i have a cute sister.

and that makes everything better.

love,

lo.