So Much Stuff!

Hey Jessica,

So much stuff has happened in the long time since I've written last, so I'm just going to post some pictures with brief descriptions.

 I went to the Priest/Laurel Formal with some friends. I reused an old formal dress. It was a ton of fun!

 I also went to prom! I had a lot of fun going to Stanford's to eat, going to Target to get mints (inside joke), being all fancy at prom, and having good treats at a friend's house afterwards. I got my hair done at a fundraiser at Sunset High School then Sister Densley did my makeup. I felt really fancy.

Kevin came home from his mission! It's exciting to have him around again. He's engaged now. I've forgotten what it's like to have a guy in the house besides Dad.

I graduated! With an "A" in calc. (That's because of all your help.) The red sash is for being an Academic Scholar and the white cord is for the Instrumental Music Career Pathway. The medal is because everyone gets a medal. Guess what! I got a 5 on my AP Psychology exam! I'm so happy! It's my first 5.

I went to New York!!! This is a picture of the Statue of Liberty

 This is a panoramic shot from the boat I took to the Statue of Liberty.

This is a panoramic shot from the top of the Empire State Building at night.

This is a panoramic shot of Central Park.

Obviously I love the panoramic shots.

I got to see the American Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the New York Public Library, the Guggenheim, Carnegie Hall, Julliard, the Manhattan Temple, The Lion King (Broadway), Matilda (Broadway), Times Square, Tiffany's, Grand Central Terminal, Brooklyn Bridge, and lots of other fun places. And I was with my best friend (and her mom) the entire week!  I'll never forget that experience.

Anyway, I'm not being very descriptive so I'll stop shoving my good fortune in your face. However I hear you have your room up in Provo, which is more than I can boast here. I'm not the only lucky one.

Love you!

Melissa

April

Melissa!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, April was the best name I could think of for a title.

Well, its been quite a long time since I've written, sorry about that. This semester has been crazy though! Great, but crazy.

First classes: I have absolutely loved my "Old Testament Roots of the Book of Mormon" class. I have never worked so hard or been so satisfied with a research paper before! It is insane how much I have learned.

Second, I have a growing entourage of Doctor Who friends. They just seem to pop out of the woodwork! We haven't been able to watch any together, but it is so nice to have friends that get my Doctor Who references. I haven't seen the new episodes yet, and it's driving me crazy! Did you guys record them? Please save them till I get home!

Third, lately I've been reading a ton. All of my classes basically had everything due a few weeks ago, so it was completely crazy, but then I didn't really have much to do till finals. So I read Pride and Prejudice, then Emma, both by Jane Austen, and then Graceling by I forget who (that one was good, but not spectacular. Eventually it just felt like I was just reading about the Hunger Games characters put in a different world. Their names were even Katsa and Po. Sound like Katniss and Peeta, anyone?) Then I read Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind, the first of the Sword of Truth series and Hood by Steve Lawhead, the first of the King Raven trilogy. Both were great, but I don't think I'll read the rest of Sword of Truth, however, I do want to read the rest of King Raven.

Fourth, 12 DAYS TILL KEVIN COMES HOME FROM HIS MISSION!!!!!!!!! I am so excited to see him again! (for everyone out there you can see his letters home here.)

Fifth, I had Easter dinner with cousins and friends. Ellen and I made a big ham, as well as scalloped potatoes and carrot cake! Then other people brought sides. It was such great food and great company.

Sixth, I went to the French Club Cheese Night! I got to try like 6 different cheeses. I liked most of them, but the Bleu D'Auvergne was much too strong for me. And that's also the only name I remember, so that's what you get to hear about!

And that's some of the recent highlights of winter semester. It's been a lot of fun, and I'm a little sad to see so many of my friends leave on missions. I'm excited for them, but sad that they won't be here. Now it's just finals and then I get to head home!

- Jessica

DISNEY!

Hey Jessica!

I got my Concert Choir sweatshirt! It's so cool. I feel all official and selective and I swear I sing better in it too. You know I'm the fourth Leete to get a sweatshirt, and the third girl to be an alto. We should take a picture with all of us in our sweatshirts. However I do see how that can be a problem since you have more than one.

NATS Musical Theater was a couple Saturdays ago, and it was a ton of fun. I went early to see Cami perform and then Keturah (my accompanist) and I hung out and worked on college essays until it was my turn. I think I did well and I had lots of fun.

Keturah and I took her little brothers and friends trick-or-treating for Halloween. It was fun. I guess. We all dressed up as characters from Great Expectations. Keturah was Miss Havisham, I was Estella and one of her brothers was Pip. We looked good.

Here's a picture of me:

For Thanksgiving we went down to California to visit family. We even went down to Disneyland for a day, for free too (well we bought one ticket, but it was discounted.) Ya, we've got connections. I had a ton of fun. Rachel and I closed the park out, even when our cousins went to go sleep in the car. I got blisters for it but it was worth it. 

Disneyland made me act like a child. I got all giddy and energetic and I just wanted to ride everything and go everywhere. It was exciting. 

Thanksgiving dinner was nice to have with family. We went on a walk on Avila Beach afterwards. It was beautiful weather.

I hope you are having fun at college!

Melissa

Crazyness!

Hey Melissa!

So these past two weeks have been CRAZY!! Classes are really loading up on the work and I actually seem to have a social life this year, so that's also been taking up a lot of time. Here's some highlights:

I went and saw Il Trovatore  by Giuseppe Verdi done by the Utah Opera. So good! I've only been to one opera before and I don't think I really appreciated it as much as I could have (I was younger). This one though was wonderful. The story line was great, but mostly it was the music that made me love it. It's just beautiful! And it reminded me just how much I love classical music. So now, when I really need to work, I crank up the classical and drown out all the distractions.

Next up.. Rubik's Cubes! Mom sent me mine (I love her) and it is the best thing to let my mind relax and focus on something simple and easily solved. It's also probably one of the reasons my homework always seems to get pushed to the last minute :)

I'm taking beginning social dance this semester and it is definitely my favorite class (sorry calculus). We're working on cha-cha right now, and it is a ton of fun. In a few weeks there's a competition thingy for the different classes and I'm competing. I'm a bit nervous, but I think it will be really fun.

In the past four days, I have taken big 3 tests.They went well, but now it's just time to catch up on everything I put off in order to study. I really don't have the best study habits, I'm working on that :) Also, I have to get more done before the weekend because I'm going up to Rexburg to see Jennifer. So excited. Let's hope I'm not too stressed on Monday.

-Jessica

Homecoming!

Hey Jessica,

It's been a long time and a lot has happened so I'll just try to highlight some of the more important things for you. (If I can even remember what has happened.)

Mom made me a dress. Not just any dress, but a homecoming dress. She did it in two weeks too. She's amazing! So basically everyday after school I checked in on her to see how the dress was coming. I got to try it on a lot too. I think it's the best dress she's ever made me!

Then I went to Homecoming! Not with a date, but with three of my friends, Cami, Keturah, and Hayley.  We went to Cami's house before to eat dinner, a formal sit down but we were not dressed up yet. Then we got ready. You know, make up, hair, girl chat, and so forth. I wanted to curl my hair, but for some reason the curling iron wasn't working. Or maybe I wasn't . . . But anyway I had to wait for Cami to finish curling Keturah's hair so that I, well really Hayley, could use that curling iron to curl my hair. The end result (besides me looking fabulous!) was we ended up taking the pictures really late so it was too dark outside, we took some inside but I don't think most of the turned out. So in the following pictures the background will be all black, that's just because I was being vain.

Me

Keturah, Me, Cami, Hayley

Funny pose!

The only decent picture where you can see my whole dress

 When we got there we had ticket issues. Keturah's brother bought her ticket because he has an asb sticker (another mix up) and we thought that they had to show up together because the ticket would be under his name. But she at first left it at home, then her mom forgot it when she came to take pictures, then she couldn't find it, then we found out Keturah's brother had them, but then he lost them, either in the car, at home, or at the restaurant he went to. But anyway, in the midst of all this an administrator heard out our problems and let us in. It was all good. The dance however wasn't that fun. Well for me. I think I'm just worn out from too many dances. They had a cool chandelier made by a student hanging from the ceiling. Personally I didn't really like most of the music they played the hour and a half we were there. They played YMCA though. That's a good song. After an hour and a half we went to Keturah's house and watched "How To Loose a Guy in Ten Days". It's a good, funny movie.

Besides that school has been, well school. I have homework, that when I schedule well, isn't all that bad. But I tend to leave my chapter study guide for AP Psych until the last minute, which isn't fun. I think I get half of calc. That is until I have to take a quiz or a test and suddenly I don't remember anything. I'm sure it'll get better though, right? Ya, homecoming is the most exciting thing that has happened recently and that Rachel is sixteen. It makes me feel old. I even registered to vote! Not like I can this year, but I'll be all registered for later.

See you later!
Melissa

End of Summer

Hey Melissa!

Well, I'm now in Utah for school. It's been a great summer though! Here's one of the highlights:

My good friend Linnea had them and they just needed to be made into cookies.
So here's us making them:

And our 3 little frosting helpers: Rachel, Melissa, and Melissa's friend Amanda

Now for some finished projects!

 I love the look of the mint chocolate chips for eyes :)

 This one is getting kicked in the head by the purple one.

Didn't they turn out great! We made a lot though, we were frosting for hours and definitely were not hungry for dinner afterwards.

So I got here Wednesday night and so far I'm the only roommate moved in and living here. One has been in and out, dropping off stuff but spending the day with her family and no one else has shown up yet. So I've been unpacking and reading. More reading than unpacking, I really don't like unpacking. I read  one of my favorites from when I was younger, Poison by Chris Wooding. Now I'm about halfway through with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It's a lot of fun to relax and read something easy.

- Jessica