Sunday, May 23, 2010

a weekend of partyin'

this was a crazy weekend. oh my goodness. it was full of lots of fun, family from a far, and celebration.

it all started with my sisters dance recitals friday night. they did such a cute job and i am so proud of them! these dance recitals that this studio puts on are amazing. lots of fun and talented numbers to watch. here are pictures of the two stars in the famly!

on saturday we had planned to do this big birthday bash for everyone that had a may birthday. it was mainly for my dad's 50th, but since there were 6 other people celebrating we figured we might as well. but the weather decided to be lame and pour almost all day. by the time the sun came out it was almost 3 pm and we only had about an hour to relax and swim before we had to shower and get ready to attend a wedding reception. i was able to get some sun in though, so i guess it was good enough!

my parents, aunt, uncle, and i attended danny taylor's wedding. what a fun night! it was so good to see everyone that i haven't seen in a long time and to come together as friends and family to celebrate the marriage of danny and laura. the evening turned out to be beautiful and we were able to dance the night away. i was so glad to be apart of that fun night!
after the wedding we came home and finished celebrating the birthdays with present, a midnight swim, and some brian regan. what a great day! here are some pictures for you to enjoy!

the may birthday clan

dad's birthday "cake" from edible arrangements



the midnight swimers

50 years...

so this post is over a week late for my dad, but it's been so crazy here that i haven't even had time to do all the posts i've needed too!

so my dad turned the big 5-0 this year. crazy! i can't believe that he's to that point already...he's still going strong though!

my mom thought of a really funny idea to celebrate the day since he wasn't really wanting to do anything until all the family go into town (more to come on that in another post). we took on the theme "50 is the new 30" and filled the yard with  30 pink plastic flamingos. my sisters and i also decorated the driveway with a bunch of chalk art. it was great. he had no idea this was happening and came home from the temple to a wonderful surprise!

here are just a few photos from that day...







to my dad - happy 50th ya old man. you are such an amazing father who has helped me with so much over the years. i am forever grateful to you and all that you have done. glad that i could be part of your big day! love you dad.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

dancing ganesha


birthday gang

i'm tellin ya, i feel like there's a birthday dinner every weekend! it's been a blast though being able to go out and celebrate.

this birthday trip we paid a visit to the dancing ganesha - a yummy indian place. oh the food was soo yummy. we got about three different orders of things and just shared. i ate so much that i was about to explode.

it was a fun night though.

sonita, i'm sending you my birthday wish to you today (even though your real birthday is tomorrow). I hope you have a wonderful day celebrating down in florida. i wish i could be there with you. you are wonderful and deserve the very best!

happy birthday.

here are a few more pictures from the night


some of the food we ordered


sonita taking a drink of the "shot" the restaurant brought her...too bad there was alcohol in it, and she couldn't drink it.



the holy elephant and i

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

blahh...

you know how sometimes you just have those days where everything seems to just be blahh...? today has been one of those days for me. nothing huge has happened to make it this way. maybe it's because it's been raining non stop for the last 48 hours? whatever it is, it just came out of nowhere...kind of like how body fat just creeps on (weird analogy, but just level with me here).

seeing that i'm not so good at the journaling anymore, all i want to do is just type...so here i go.

home has been difficult. not when it comes to family. my family is great and i have loved being home with them. it's also not in the sense that i haven't had friends, or i haven't done anything fun, because i have. i have been very blessed as far as my social life goes.

for the last few months i've just felt off.

maybe it's because i wasn't able to find a job that actually gives me work to do? or it could be because it's winter and winter brings no motivation for anything? or maybe it's because my best friend is in mississippi and the only form of communication to her is through letters? i'm thinking it's the best friend one.

last night i thought about jessica a lot. it's been 4 months and 7 days since i said goodbye to the one person who i felt truly got me and loved me for who i am. i know that she still does, but it's hard having to sacrifice a best friend like her. i know that sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven, but i'm struggling seeing the blessings here. (i just felt uber guilty writing that...). if you can't tell, patience is something that i struggle with every day. then again who doesn't? let's just say the next 12 months are going to have to be taken with baby steps. tiny, baby steps.

my schedule for the summer changed a bit. i was originally supposed to leave for utah to start efy, but it got pushed back a week. so now i'm home for 2 more weeks, which at first was frustrating, but is actually a good thing really. i have lots of family coming into town, my dad's 50th birthday this weekend, sister's dance recitals, a friends homecoming from her mission in japan, and a family friend's wedding. i'm going to be busy, which is good. this whole sitting on the couch watching t.v. is getting old...not that i don't love my shows, but i'm ready for some fun.

friends are getting married...this is a tough subject to talk about because there was this one time not too long ago when i was supposed to get married. i've never talked about this on a blog before, and i figure it's about time to because there's something about it that's eating me alive and i'm tired of it. the details of it all aren't important to me anymore, but today i realized something. that something is what it was like to

have a first love and to lose it.

we only dated for a couple of weeks before we knew that we wanted to get married. for any of you that know me, you know that that was fast. my rule for any kind of relationship that's going to get serious is 4 seasons and 2 trips - a trip with my family and a trip with his. we had 1/2 of a season of dating and a trip with a bunch of friends.

but i had fallen for this boy like i'd never fallen before. 

now we weren't engaged officially, but i had reached the point where i was done looking. i had found the one. but before i knew it, he was a jerk and it was over. the road was hard, but i got through with a lot of help from my savior. there was a lot of praying, fasting, and temple trips inside as well as sitting in my car in the parking lot. because of the savior through the help of the holy ghost, i was able to feel his love for me and the much needed peace.

it's now almost 2 years later, but this boy did a lot of damage and i still feel (at times) as if i'm trying to pull the shrapnel from my bleeding heart. but i am so grateful i didn't marry this boy. sure we might have had fun together, but i know our relationship wouldn't have lasted, and wouldn't have been founded on what it should be: the gospel.

it was a blessing in disguise for me.

it was a blessing because it opened so many doors to me. there are a lot of things that i wouldn't have been able to do (efy for years 2 & 3), and a lot of people that i wouldn't have met (jessica) if i would've gotten married. my time to meet that oh so knight in shining amour hasn't come yet...but someday soon it will (hopefully). of course i'm ready to finally have someone who will treat me how i should be treated, but until then, all i can do is make the best with what i've been given and continue to surround myself with good people.  

ok, i've rambled on for a long time, but i feel so much better...its crazy what a good rambling can do for the heart and mind! what can i say, i'm a girl on fire...

Sunday, May 9, 2010

to my mother.

to my dear mother.


thank you.
thank you for giving me life. 
thank you for being so wonderful to me these last 22 years of my life.
thank you for always cleaning up after me and letting me do the things i want to.
thank you for being an amazing cook and teaching me how to make yummy meals.
thank you for always making me laugh.
thank you for the don pablos mexican meals.
thank you for providing for me when i wasn't able to do so myself.
thank you for being a wonderful example and showing me how i should treat others.


you deserve the best mama. 


happy mother's day.


i love you.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

and so it begins...again.

it seems like for the past 4 years i've been on the move every 3 months. it seems like right after i've finished packing and get settled in i have to pack it all up again.

today i started the daunting task of packing up my room to once again move out for the summer and fall seasons.

it's been a bit bittersweet this time around however.

this time around i made some good friends. this time around i had some big moments happen for me. this time around i'm happy being at home.

but it's time to start somewhere new.

i like new beginnings, especially when i know they'll be with great friends of mine.

here's to the last 4 months at home...

i'll miss you and i promise to come back real soon.