Blog Challenge

Ok, so I'm totally copying one of my friends.  She started this blogging challenge to get into a better habit with blogging.  I'm not good at updating my blog, if you haven't noticed, but I love it when I actually do! So here is day one of the challenge.


Day 1: Upload a recent picture of yourself and write 15 interesting facts about yourself.

1. I'm the middle child of three kids, and we're all more or less 4 years apart.  That makes me 20 years old, my brother, Erik is almost 24, and my sister, Keira, is 16.

2. When I graduated high school two Decembers ago, I lived in California for 6 months and nannied for my aunt, and one of those kids was that cute thing beside me in the picture!! I love and adore those four kids SO MUCH!! Nannying is by far my favorite job.

3. At the moment, I can't eat gluten, or acidic stuff, or spicy stuff! Sad, I know.  When I eat gluten, my mouth gets torn to shreds, and it still hasn't healed after 9 months, so when I eat citrus-y, acidic, or spicy things, it just makes me mouth hurt worse.

4. I hate the snow and the cold.

5. I've done sessions in 8 different temples: Timpanogos, Provo, Draper, Salt Lake, Bountiful, Jordan River, Newport Beach, and Los Angeles.

6. I can't sleep without socks.

7. I want to major in math.

8. I also want to go to hair school.

9. I love coffee flavored things.

10. I have a ctr ring that I don't think I've ever really taken off since I was about 8.  Same ring!

11. I used to hate the color purple, but recently, I started loving it! Now, it's my favorite :)

12. My hair used to be naturally curly, but all of a sudden, it's going straight!

13. I secretly kind of want to be an opera singer.  Now it's not a secret.

14. I love reading.  Love, love, love it! I get into my books like it's a movie.  I was reading one series, and something happened that made me so sad and upset that I burst into tears and threw the book across the room!

15. I love my life :) everything about it is beautiful, and everything always works out the way it's supposed to as long as you're doing what's right!

Been lookin' for Mr. Right for so long, but all I've found is Mr. Wrong.

I'm terrible at updating my blog.  Please forgive me.  I know there are a few of you that enjoy updates about my life, my whereabouts and the like.  So I will do the very best I feel comfy with, seeing as how I don't really want "the former" hearing things (not saying I don't trust ya'll... just sayin' ya can't be too careful!)

Where to start? First of all, I'm no longer dating the cute boy that helped me with my car.  I know, but don't be sad! Why, you ask? Because I had an absolutely marvelous time, and he is awesome! But things happen, and sometimes you both just know you're supposed to date other people, and so you do, and you part ways, but we were lucky enough to remain friends.  In the mean time, I've met several people who are super awesome.  But let's not get ahead of ourselves, folks.  First things first.

I was feeling kinda down in the dumps, just for a little bit after the cute boy and I broke up.  And it wasn't because I was sad about the breakup, but because the past three guys I've dated have given me the exact same reason for breaking up with me - that they knew they weren't the guy I was supposed to be dating.  I thought to myself, seriously, this is getting old! But then, after I'd had a pity party of about half of a whole day, I thought about how much of a blessing it was that I was just being led that much closer and that much faster to my very own Mr. Right!

Soon after the cute boy and I parted ways, I got a very VERY strong impression that the Lord did not want me to go to BYU.  I bawled.  I wanted SO badly to go to BYU!! I actually got in, and I was so excited, and after having received the impression back in the summer that I needed to apply there and move to Provo, I couldn't help but cry! I thought I knew exactly what direction my life was going to go, I thought I knew what the Lord wanted me to do, but He told me that was not the direction I was actually supposed to go.  So, I moved.  Right now, I'm taking life one day at a time, and it's working out very nicely :) it was only later, after I had stopped my bawling about not going to BYU that I realized that it doesn't matter why the Lord told me to go to BYU in the first place, what mattered was that I needed to follow what He was telling me to do at this very minute, and that was to not go.  But isn't that what faith is? Faith is an action word, is it not? So I'm doing my best, trying to go where I feel the Lord wants me to be.

So as of right now, I'm not dating anybody seriously, but that might change in the near future, I'll let you know ;) and we'll see when Mr. Right comes around, but until then, I'm very much enjoying meeting all these new people and making new friends and spending time with my family!

Oh yeah, spending time with my family, haha... now if the devoted reader has paid attention, he or she might remember that I was a nanny for two adorable little boys when I was living in P-town.  Unfortunately for me, the parental units informed me that they would be moving to Washington for a month for a possible job opportunity, and to see if they liked it there.  They would only be gone for a month and told me they would pay me through the month just in case they came back.  As it turned out, they didn't come back :( and oh man, did I cry yet again! I'm all waterworks when it comes to the important things.  I got lucky though when I went to the grandma Jeannie's house to pick up my last check, and the daddy and the baby were visiting!! And you know what? The chubster remembered me!! He reached out for me and wanted me to hold him, and boy did I ever want to hold him! It was so good to see them again, even if it was just half of the family.
This, dear reader, is the reason I have so much time to spend with the family - no more job.  A bittersweet deal.

The celiac disease is still just as lame.  As is the celiac gut itself.  You can ask anyone in my family, I detest my celiac gut with my entire being.  I loathe it.  However, I hold fast to the hope that someday I will have a normal, working, perfectly functional body! It will happen, don't you fear.  Spending time out of the cold has helped me so much though, my Reynaud's is nowhere NEAR as bad as it was in Utah.  My toes have remained flesh colored for a full week and a day.  This is good progress, people.  Momentous!


Overall, gentle readers, life is marvelous, and I love it.  Love!

Christmas in the land of palm trees

Oh Christmastime.  Is it just me, or did it not feel a bit like Christmas? Don't get me wrong, I love Christmastime, but not for the presents and gifts and candy and food, no, no.  I love Christmas because it gives me a chance to learn more about Christ than I knew before! I had a really good experience last night when we were reading the Christmas story.  My dad read to us and throughout the story he stopped and told us new bits of information about it that he'd learned from reading Jesus the Christ.  It was by far the best Christmas story I'd ever heard!

This Christmas I get to spend time with my family in California!! It's so nice being back together again for a little while.  I can't wait until we are all in the same place together for good! It'll be so great! But until then, I'm loving this time with them.

Now... I know most of you (or at least half of you) expect your Christmases to be white and snowy and, in my opinion, horrendous.  To me, however, Christmas is palm trees and sunshine and 65 degree weather.  I'm almost 100% sure I'm not going to live in Utah the rest of my life.  No sir.  Winter lasts far too long, and as much as I wish I loved the snow, I just don't!! I'm a sunshine and palm trees girl at heart, born with sand in my blood... mmmm...

My good friend Markuth posted a really funny Christmas poem that I wish I could take credit for writing, but... I obviously can't.  Here it is:

A Spanglish Christmas Poema

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the casa,

Not a creature was stirring... caramba, que pasa?

Los ninos were all tucked away in their camas,

Some in long underwear, some in pajamas.

While mama worked late in her little cocina,

El viejo was down at the corner cantina.

Living it up with amigos, carracho!

Muy contento y poco borracho!

We had hung up the stockings with mucho cuidado,

In hopes that old Santa would feel obligado.

To bring all the children, both buenos y malos,

A nice batch of dulces and other regalos.

Outside in the yard there arose such a grito,

That I jumped to my feet like a frightened cabrito!

I ran to the window and looked out afuera,

And who in the world do you think that it era?

St. Nick in a sleigh and a big red sombrero,

Came dashing along like a crazy bombero.

And pulling his sleigh. instead of venados,

Were eight little burros, approaching volados!

As I watched as they came and this quaint little hombre

Was shouting and whistling and calling by nombre.

"Ay pancho! Ay pepe! Ay cuca! Ay beto!

"Ay chato! Ay chopo!, maruca y nieto!"

Then, standing erect with his hand on his pecho,

He flew to the top of our very own techo.

With his round little belly like a bowl of jalea,

He struggled to squeeze down our old chiminea.

Then huffing and puffing, at last in our sala,

With soot smeared all over his red suit de gala.

He filled all the stockings with lovely regalos,

For none of the ninos had been very malos.

Then chuckling aloud, seeming very contento,

He turned like a flash and was gone like the viento.

And I heard him exclaim... and this is verdad,

Merry Christmas to all... y Feliz Navidad

Somethin' crazy runs both ways!

Know how sometimes you can get this impression that you need to do something that seems impossible, but you know it's right? So then you do it, and everything works out so that impossible thing can happen, and then, out of nowhere, you get the fierce impression that it's wrong?

Yeah, me too.

Ain't life crazy?!?

Life just never turns out the way you plan on it turning out! And you know what? That's awesome.  If life did turn out the way I thought it should, it most likely wouldn't be a very good one.  God's plan is a heck of a lot better than mine.  The only thing is, none of us know what that plan is, so in the mean time, it makes it difficult to decide what to do.

In the mean time, folks, I'm grateful for socks.  And gluten-free food.  And I'm grateful for people who love me, who let me wear crazy socks and eat gluten-free food.  I'm grateful for my awesome mumsy and daddy-o who are just plain amazing, and they know it! I'm one lucky chick, that's for sure.  I'm grateful for my friends who love me no matter where I'm at.  And boy, am I super excited for the rest of my life, whatever it is, so bring it on, baby!!