Friday, December 05, 2008

The Abundant Life

In honor of ElderJoseph B. Wirthlin who passed away early this week, I thought I would post a link to my favorite conference talk of all time, which was given by him. For those of you who may not know, Elder Wirthlin was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.This talk was given in the April 2005 General Conference and can be found here.

My favorite phrase in this talk is "
create of your life a masterpiece." I love that idea. It is up to us to do with our lives what the Lord would have us do. It is up to us to work hard an see the rewards and blessings that come. It is up to us to have a good attitude and look at life as the beautiful gift it is. I have that phrase posted on the mirror in my room and I read it a lot. I wish I put it more fully into practice.

When I heard that Elder Wirthlin passed away I was so sad, but then thought of the joyful reunion that I know he had with his wife. I'm sure he was thrilled to be with her again. I will miss his talks at General Conference (who didn't cry when he barely made it through his talk in October 2007 as Elder Nelson had to help him stand at the podium) and the humility and kindness that he shared through his sermons. I am grateful that I have been able to learn from Elder Wirthlin and know that he was an Apostle of the Lord.

I encourage all of you to read "The Abundant Life" and hopefully it will bless your life as it has blessed mine.


"The abundant life isn’t something we arrive at. Rather, it is a magnificent journey that began long, long ages ago and will never, never end."

Saturday, November 01, 2008

I'm baaaaack...

I would blame my lack of blogging on my insanely hot boyfriend, but since that isn't even a possibility, I just blame it on being lazy and most importantly, being out of town a lot. (but if anyone wants to set me up with an insanely hot boy so I can actuallly use that excuse, feel free...)

I am currently in Rexburg, Idaho visiting my awesome little sister. It is so weird to be here. I left Rexburg 7 years ago. And it was still Ricks College when I was here. Crazy!!! It is cool though and we are getting ready to go to the Rexburg temple. So yes, this post is short, but it's something. Give me at least that much credit. I'll update my adventures when we get back tonight. :)

Thursday, September 11, 2008

9/11

"Are these perilous times? They are. But there is no need to fear. We can have peace in our hearts and peace in our homes. We can be an influence for good in this world, every one of us." -President Gordon B. Hinckley, October 2001 General Conference
I'm sitting here seriously sobbing. I just watched a few videos on You Tube about 9/11/01 and I was doing ok until I watched one that a little girl is narrating. There are pictures of that day and the song Heaven playing and the little girl is talking about her dad who died that day. I can't get over it. It is heart breaking.

Even after 7 years, the events of that day still impact me greatly. I remember exactly what happened that day, where I was and the sick feeling I think most of us felt as we watched our country come under attack right before our eyes. I think of all those families who lost loved ones and all those kids who miss their moms and dads. I also think about all those who have lost family members in the war that we have been fighting since then.
September 11th will always and forever be a somber day. A day that we will all remember. A day I hope that we never forget.




I have stood on that sacred ground and it is a horrible, but hopeful place. As I sit here crying and remembering and pondering I can't help but also remember and ponder about the plan of happiness that our Heavenly Father has prepared for us. These are hard times, but the Lord has his eye on us; on this country. I pray for those that are serving our country and the families of those who lost their lives that fateful day.


GOD BLESS AMERICA!
This is my family at Ground Zero last summer and with a firefighter who was there that day.

Monday, September 08, 2008

I Heart Archie!

...and I'm not ashamed of it!! Seriously, he is the cutest kid (don't believe me? read this article) and has the most incredible voice!!!!! But I totally love Cook too, and actually loved more of the Idols than I thought I would.

The American Idol concert was July 15 and Jessie, Kristin and I made a night of it. We left work a little early and went to The Pie for dinner. J had never been there before and she loved it, of course.
K and I were smiling and giggling like little schoolgirls as we were waiting for the concert to start! well, excpet for when we thought the concert was going to start, but it was actually a man in a pop tart suit. not cool to get our hopes up like that.

We were all so excited to be going to the concert. It was kind of pathetic. We had heard such awesome things about the concert the night before and couldn't wait to see and hear it ourselves. The format of the concert was basically 10 mini-concerts. Each contestant (starting with Chikeze, since he was the first of the top 10 to be voted off) got to do about 3 songs. They did some that they had done on the show and a lot that they hadn't. It was cool to hear them do more of their own genre and not be forced to sing a style or specific artist. They definitely are all very different. And all very good! My favorites were Michael Johns, Carly Smithson, Brooke White, David Archuleta and David Cook. (Archie got to do 4 songs and Cook did 5) I was pleasantly surprised with Chikeze, Kristy Lee Cook and Jason Castro. The only ones I didn't really like were Ramiel and Syesha. Not that they don't have good voices, I just didn't like them on stage so much.

Anyway, we had so much fun and I ended up losing my voice because I was screaming so loud and K and I sang along with everyone. Such a blast! The crazy thing was when David Archuleta came out...I have never heard anything like it. The screaming was incredible. And he was so cute about it all. You could tell he really loved being in his home town.

I am not ashamed of my love of David Archuleta. In fact, I'm listening to all the songs of his that I downloaded on itunes this very minute.

(I borrowed a couple of your pics Jam...I wish I had that good of seats!)

Saturday, September 06, 2008

but first...

Ok, so I know I said I would start catching up on everything, but I just got back from the saturday night adult session of State/Regional Conference (as I'm sure many of you also went to) and I want to first write a little about what I learned/felt tonight.

I moved into a new ward and stake in the last few weeks, so this is the first occasion I've had to listen to the Stake Presidency. All I have to say is WOW! I am so impressed and very grateful for what they taught this evening. The talks generally revolved around sustaining our leaders; local and general. But what I loved the most were the first two talks given by women in our Stake. They spoke on being examples. Here are some of my thoughts from their talks...
  • we set examples for those around us whether we realize it or not, whether are examples are good, or not.
  • we are blessed for doing the right things in the right place at the right time
  • we cannot fall when we build our foundation on the Savior (Helaman 5:12)
  • EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY! life will not be perfect, but as we follow the Brethren and the Lord, everything will be okay.
  • we cannot pick and choose the commandments and counsel that we live
  • don't delay following counsel!

It was a wonderful meeting and I am looking forward to tomorrow to hear from the general leaders of the church. I am also getting really excited for General Conference. Can you believe it is in just four weeks?!?

Anyway, I hope you don't mind me sharing my thoughts with you all and you'll just have to wait until tomorrow for more posts. Sorry. So I will sign off tonight with one of my favorite quotes from last October's general conference.

"When we choose to follow Christ in faith rather than choosing another path out of fear, we are blessed with a consequence that is consistent with our choice."

so sue me...

i know, i've been an absolutely horrible blogger the last month. so sue me. just kidding, i know that i haven't been good and i promise that i have meant to do some blogging it just hasn't happened. and right now i really need to go get ready for stake conference, so here is a quick list of the gems that you will get to read about if you haven't completely written me off yet...

*American Idol concert
*family vacations
*the Olympics
*moving & my new apartment
*Grey's and Veronica Mars
*my new bed!
*shoe parties
*BYU FOOTBALL BABY!!!

so get excited and when i get back from stake conference tonight i promise to at least start working on that list.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Baby Tsunami

So a few months (approximately 9) ago I wrote about how my sister-in-law, my aunt and my friend were all expecting babies in July and I said it would be a baby tsunami. Well, Sarah mentioned that a baby tsunami could be pretty messy, but let me tell ya...it's actually really cute! ;)

All three of those babies were born within one week of each other, all were baby girls, and they are all absolutely precious!!!


First born was my gorgeous new niece...Averie Karren Castillo
July 16, 2008
Next...Calissa Beth Dalton
July 20, 2008
And finally...
Ella Ambrie Watt
July 23, 2008
Pretty adorable, eh?!?!!

Watt Reunion

At the end of June my family went camping for a Watt family (my mom's side) reunion at Payson Lakes. We used to go there every Memorial day with my dad's family, but I haven't been there in years and it was really fun to go back. We spent a lot of time at the lake playing in the water and laying out.

There are a ton of grandkids on the Watt side and since I am the oldest they are all pretty young. I feel more like their aunt a lot of times, especially since I have a niece and nephew that are the same age as some of my cousins.

The theme of our reunion was the Olympics and each individual family represented a country and made food from that country for the meal that they were in charge of. We learned facts about how many members of the Church live in that country and some general information regarding the country. We also had "olympic events" at the lake with some fun games. My uncle Marvin's favorite event was "flipping the raft when Jen is in it". Fun game for him. Not for me. The water was freezing!!

Filichia Fam

In my 4th of July post I mentioned that I got to spend that evening with the Filichia family. The best part was that it was actually just once of the many times that I got to hang out with the Filichia's over the 2 weeks leading up to the 4th.

Most of you probably don't know the Filichia's, but they are practically my second family. My friend Tim, who passed away last October, is their son. Tim and I spent a lot of time with his family in Arizona and whenever they would come to Provo. I am very lucky to have them in my life and feel like Tim is still around when I am with them.

About two weeks before the 4th I got a text from Lauren (little sis Filichia) saying that LIGHT (her dad's show choir) was going to be in Utah doing a couple shows. I was so excited and got to go see their incredible show in Spanish Fork. When I walked into the church I saw Big Tim (Papa Filichia) and he was so suprised to see me. I loved the look on his face. Then I went into the gym and found Cara (Mama Filichia). She was also shocked to see me. I sat with her through the show and enjoyed seeing the kids perform. It was a little bit hard to watch parts of the show because it was things that Tim had done and it was weird to see someone else doing his part. But it was a great show and I always love watching LIGHT perform. After the show I got to talk to Lauren for a couple minutes and then Cara and I found an empty room and ended up talking for two hours. We pretty much only talked about Tim, but Cara shared a lot of amazing things that happened before, during, and after the accident. We both cried a ton and I was able to share with her some experiences that I had before and after Tim died. It was so theraputic for both of us!

Lauren also was starting school at BYU the next monday, so she was going to be moving into her apartment and getting settled and Cara was going to stay with her for a couple weeks. But since she didn't have a car up here I got to spend a lot of one-on-one time with Cara going to the grocery store and running errands and helping get Lauren settled at BYU. I loved spending so much time with the girls.
Then Big Tim and Matt (little bro Filichia) came up for a few days to spend the holiday and to take Cara back home. Matt is such a little Timmy and he is so much fun to hang out with. I loved being able to hang out with the whole family and be able to talk so openly with them about Tim and about how they are all doing. I love the Filichia family and hope that they will always be a part of my life!!

***sorry this is such a long and probably boring post for most of you, but this is kind of my journal, so if you don't like it, don't read it. just kidding.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

4th of July

I LOVE the 4th of July. It is definitely my favorite holiday next to Christmas. We have so many traditions and I love spending the time with my whole family and being reminded of the wonderful blessing it is to live in this amazing country!

Each year we go to the Freedom Festival in Provo. The morning is spent getting up really early (4am) to get a good spot for the parade where we stake out enough space for both sides of my family. The parade is always so much fun (hot, but fun...) with all the floats, huge balloons, high school marching bands and color guards (go Lone Peak!!!!!) and the most loved entry in the parade...the Provo Utah Missionaries!!! I love going to the parade with the little kids. They are so cute waving to everyone and make it such a blast.

The whole gang (almost) watching the parade.
My trooper of a sister-in-law sat through the hot parade while 8 1/2 months pregnant!

Lots of aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents....and my dad, the gimp. ;)


Easton used the spray bottle to make sure everyone stayed cool. He was a little too good at that job. The part of the parade that gets the biggest applause. Hmmm....I wonder why?

After the parade we walk around all the booths that are out around Center Street and enjoy blow up rides, snow cones, and funnel cake!

We normally spend the afternoon bbq-ing with both sides of our family, but this year just spent it with the Castillo's since my aunts from Texas and Washington were in town with their families. We spent the afternoon hanging out at grandma's house eating, playing games (Nertz and the Wii especially), chatting and napping. Good times.
a
That evening Michelle and I went and spent time with the Filichia's. It was so good to have them in town and get to hang out with them. Ward was also down from Salt Lake and we hung out at Lauren's apartment and then went up to the MTC fields to watch the Stadium of Fire firworks. The fireworks were great, but the best part was just chillin' with Big Tim, Cara, Lauren, Matt and Ward! I'm glad Shell got to meet them.

Me and Wardy. I think this is the first normal picture I've ever gotten of him. And of course, I'm being retarded!

Crazy kids! Lauren, Ward, me and Matt


My beautiful sister and I waiting for the fireworks to start.

It was such a wonderful day and I am so grateful for the blessing that we enjoy by living in the United States. I'm grateful for the freedoms we enjoy and the peace and happiness that is ours!

Playing catch up...

I have been horrible the last couple weeks at posting, but I'm going to catch up today! So much has happened the last few weeks and I'm excited to share it with you all!!! So get ready....here it goes...

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Cousins

On the 3rd of July we had a reunion with the Gordon side of the family (my Grandma Castillo's family) at a park in Orem. I don't see many from the side of the family very often and it was really fun. I was really excited when I got there and saw that my aunt and her daughter that live in Washington were there and even more thrilled when i saw my aunt and her family who live in Texas. It was so good to have them here for a few days.

On the Castillo side of the family I have a ton of cousins and I am at the older end of everyone (4th out of 29) so it is really fun to watch the younger cousins all growing up. It does make me feel kind of old, but it makes it really fun to all hang out together.

This is a hysterical picture of 5 of the cousins (Brittany, Jason, Tyler, Camrie and Eric). They crack me up!! The boys all went shopping together and bought matching pink shirts. They thought they were hot stuff, and the girls really are hot stuff. ;) I love my cousins!

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Addiction

I hate to admit it, but I have a major problem. Some people are addicted to drugs or alcohol (these are mostly the people I work with...well, not work WITH, but that I deal with at work...oh, I've dug myself a hole!). Some people are addicted to exercise (I wish!!!) or to plucking their eyebrows. My addiction definitely isn't quite as bad as drugs or alcohol, but it isn't great for my wallet.

I am addicted to Deseret Book. Seriously. I should just avoid it at all cost, but I can't. I'm even a platinum member because I spend so much money there. It is pretty ridiculous. This is the spoil I got on my last visit to Deseret Book last week. But I got a great deal on it all...these 6 books and CD only cost me $45. Only problem is that I do this once or twice a month.

And just in case you were wondering, no i have not read all the books I have bought. I wish I were a Maria Cutler and could read a 500 page book in 1 hour, but I'm not so I have a ton of unread books on my bookshelf. Someday I will read them all...

Monday, July 07, 2008

Steph's birthday!

My old roommate Stephanie turned the big 2-1 last week and I got invited to her birthday breakfast. It was so fun to go over to her apartment and wake her up early in the morning and take her to the best breakfast in Provo....Maglebys!!!! I love their french toast, but the best part of their breakfast is the syrup. It is seriously heaven on earth! If you have never had it, drop everything and do it now! ok, maybe not right this very minute, but don't go long without trying it. It will change your life. ;)

Anyway, back to Steph...she is one of the most amazing girls I know and I am so lucky to count her as a friend! She is so great to talk to and always lets me vent to her. She is from Tulsa which is a place close to my family's heart. She is hysterical and she is gorgeous!! Love you Steph! Hope you had a fantastic birthday!!!!This is right after we woke Steph up at 8am by pounding on her bedroom door. She was a little surprised. This is a picture of Steph with her roommates Amanda, Sun Hee, and Carolyn. Steph, Carolyn and I were all roommates last summer.

Me and Stephy at Magleby's. Not pretty so early in the morning!

Park City

So 2 weekends ago Kristin, Jessie, and I took a little weekend trip to Park City. We left on Saturday and went straight to our hotel. It was really nice and we spent a couple hours at the pool. It was fantastic aned I definitely got some sun!! I love being tan! haha. After time at the pool we went to Main Street and had dinner and walked around the cute shops. We then went back to the hotel and watched Felicity. We always seem to plan our vacations around Felicity. It just makes everything better. The next day we went to breakfast at the restaurant at the hotel (yummy!!!) and then went to the pool for some more sun. Seriously, it was the perfect little getaway. It is so nice to have somwhere as cool as Park City that is only an hour away, but makes you feel like a million miles away. It was exactly what I needed that weekend! Thanks for the fun weekend K & J!Hanging out on main street with J-Llo and K-Dub

Sunday, July 06, 2008

Sorry 'bout that...

I kind of fell off the blogging wagon the last couple weeks. Things have been so busy!!! I went to Park City then came home and had to work like crazy for a couple days so I could go camping with my family. Then it was Steph's birthday, the 4th of July, more family reunions and through it all the Filichia's were in town and I spent a lot of time with them. So those are all the awesome things you have to look forward to reading about! How excited are you?!? Pretty dang...

Saturday, June 21, 2008

I'll be back...

I'm heading to Park City for the rest of the weekend, so be excited to read tales of adventure when I get back! Have a great weekend everyone! Loves!!!!!

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

PROUD

If I knew how to post a song, I would, but I don't, so I'm just going to tell you to look it up on iTunes or something. The song Proud by Richard Niles. It is AMAZING! It is actually the theme song to the Biggest Loser, and I love it. It is my motto lately. I have been trying to ask myself the question that is posed in this song and live up to it. It makes me want to be a better person and take the steps that are necessary to become the person I want to be. Here are the lyrics....

PROUD

I look into the window of my mind,
Reflections of the fears I know I've left behind,
I step out of the ordinary,
I can feel my soul ascending,
I am on my way,
Can't stop me now,
And you can do the same.

What have you done today to make you feel proud?
You could be so many people,
If you make that break for freedom,
What have you done today to make you feel proud?

Still so many answers I don't know,
Realize that to question is how we grow,
So I step out of the ordinary,
I can feel my soul ascending,
I am on my way,
Can't stop me now,
And you can do the same.

What have you done today to make you feel proud?
It's never too late to try.
What have you done today to make you feel proud?
You could be so many people,
If you make that break for freedom,
What have you done today to make you feel proud?


We need a change,
Do it today,
I can feel my spirit rising,
We need a change,
So do it today,
'Cause I can see a clear horizon.

What have you done today to make you feel proud?
So what have you done today to make you feel proud?
'Cause you could be so many people,
If you make that break for freedom,
So what have you done today to make you feel proud?

What have you done today?
You could be so many people,
Just make that break for freedom,
So what have you done today to make you feel proud?


Aren't those incredible words!?! And what a poignant question. What have I done today to make myself proud? Recently I have reflected on this question as I write in my journal each night. I ask myself what I've done to make myself proud and write what happened that day. It has been a good way to make sure I'm doing the things that are the most important.

I hope we each do things every day to make ourselves proud!! What have you done?

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

it's been a bad day

well, i can't say that the whole day has been horrible, but the first half definitely was. and yesterday wasn't all that great either. ugh!

but i did get to go to 7 peaks this afternoon and went to a play with the fam tonight, so it did get better.

i really do have some good stuff to blog about, so hopefully tomorrow is a better day. wish me luck.

the end.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Facelift

Like my new blog template?

I like polka dots.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

NKOTB

I hope everyone who reads this knows what those initials stand for. If you don't, we definitely did not grow up in the same decade!!

A few months ago there was an announcment that my favorite childhood boyband was reuniting. I was sooo excited, but didn't know of too many other people who would be ask excited as me. Well, no one except Sarah, of course. She and I spent one Sunday afternoon watching their appearance on the Today Show that she had TiVo'd and getting ourselves pumped for their tour which would of course be coming to Salt Lake!!!!

Well, last week was the day we had been waiting for. Tickets for the NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK tour went on sale! And Sarah was online the moment they were available. November can't come soon enough!Yes, I know this may seem a little juvenile, but if any of you would have known me between the ages of 8 and 12 you would know how obsessed I was with the New Kids. My best friend Honor and I would watch their videos every day. We knew every word to their songs and every dance move. She loved Jordan and I loved Joey. We would even kiss them on the TV screen. I had t-shirts, posters, pins, tapes, videos and even the NKOTB dolls. If you don't believe me, just ask my sister, she had to share a room with me!

I wish I had kept all that old memorabilia, it would be worth a lot these days. ;)

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Happy Birthday K-Dub!

This last weekend was my good friend Kristin's birthday and Jessie and I got her the greatest gift ever! (ok, maybe not EVER, but we are all pretty excited about it!) We got tickets for the three of us to go to the American Idols tour when it comes to Salt Lake in July. Can you just hear the screams that accompanied the moment when she realized what was on the back of this paper??!! It was great!

Now the countdown is on until July 15th!! And just wait until I blog about the excitment that is going to happen tomorrow!!!!

Sunday, June 01, 2008

Beautiful Sabbath

It has been an amazing day! The weather was perfect and I was able to enjoy most of the day by being outside. One of my favorite places is in Provo canyon, a few miles past Vivian Park and South Fork. Not too many people know about it so it was wonderful today. I was able to go and take my ipod, scriptures, the Ensign and my journal and enjoy the sun for a few hours.

I want to share a talk that I really studied today. It is The Great Commandment by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin from October 2007 General Conference.

What an incredible talk! I don't know who remembers this, but this is the talk that Elder Wirthlin began to shake really badly and Elder Nelson got up to help him. What a great example of exactly what this talk is about - charity. I love so many parts of this talk, but I just want to share one part that really hit home with me.

Elder Wirthlin said, "Sometimes the greatest love is not found in the dramatic scenes that poets and writers immortalize. Often, the greatest manifestations of love are the simple acts of kindness and caring we extend to those we meet along the path of life. True love lasts forever. It is eternally patient and forgiving. It believes, hopes, and endures all things. That is the love our Heavenly Father bears for us."

What a beautiful thought! I hope you can all read (or re-read) this talk. Or even better, watch it. And while I'm promoting Elder Wirthlin, I would also encourage you all to read my favorite talk EVER!
The Abundant Life. Read it. Let me know what you think.

Friday, May 30, 2008

the end

the end of the day, the end of the week, the end of the month...i'm so glad these ends are all here!

it's been a really long day! i think everyone in the office was watching the clock all day long and it wasn't moving at all!! ugh. i hate when that happens. it was even a short week because monday was a holiday, but sometimes that makes friday go that much slower! so pretty much i'm just done with this day and with this week.

and can you believe it's the end of may?!?! oh my goodness, where does time go? (i know i just said that i was so slow, but you know what i mean...) this year is almost half over. crazy!! it's a good time to kind of reevaluate the goals i've had for myself this year. i'm definitely not where i want to be, but that's ok, i'll adjust and work harder the next few months.

so even though it's the end of today, and this week and this month, it's the beginning of a new day, week and month that will be even better than the last!!

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Wordless Wednesday...kind of

There's a lot on my mind right now, but not a whole lot that I want to write about. So here is a picture for you to enjoy. This is of me, my brother Kyle and my sister Michelle (and dad in the background) last summer while we were in New York. This picture is actually of us watching fireworks at Niagara Falls. I love my siblings!!!

Friday, May 23, 2008

This week has been pretty crazy for my family...this is an email that my mom sent to our family and friends...

Hello Family and Friends! Just wanted to let you all know that we appreciate your love and support and prayers. For those of you who haven't heard, Rafael is lacking attention at home and has had another bad accident. He went four wheeling with Shane and Marvin on Tuesday and was within 200 yards of the truck after riding about 20 miles when he got bucked off the machine. He still doesn't know how it happened. We took him to the doctor and none of them there had ever seen a break like this. They sent us home with a splint and an appointment with a orthopedic surgeon today and some really good drugs! Today the orthopedics physician assistant looked at it and said, "WOW!" He had the doctor come in and look at it and he said, "WOW"! There are several people in this world that you don't want to hear that word from, and one of them is an orthopedic surgeon. He said it is a very bad break of the "glenoid" portion of his scapula. Basically that means the pocket the humerus arm bone sits in that is part of the shoulder blade is broken off and is in two or three pieces. Tomorrow we will go to have a CAT scan and Tuesday we go back to the orthopedic for him to decide if he can operate, or if he will send Raf to another trauma specialist in Salt Lake. He might have to have a complete shoulder replacement from what they said. FUN TIMES!! In spite of it all, we are still grateful it wasn't worse or life threatening. Your prayers are needed and appreciated and we will keep you all posted. Thanks again. Love, Marinann

So, it's been a crazy one and we would appreciate any prayers in behalf of my dad and also my mom. She's been a little stressed out. We are so grateful that this is all we are having to deal with, it could have been SO much worse. I just want to beg everyone to be careful. Please!!! Today's Oprah was about car accidents (falling asleep at the wheel, drunk driving, running over kids, etc) and I hope we can all be very cautious and vigilent in our driving. Be aware and safe.

Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend!!

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

The New American Idol...


DAVID COOK!!!!!!!!!

I am so excited for David Cook and will definitely be supporting his music. It was awesome to see his reaction and the emotion he portrayed. He is an incredible guy and I am really happy for him!


and the runner up...

DAVID ARCHLETA!

What a great kid and what a fantastic ride he has had. I am so proud of him. I don't know him, but I sure feel like I do. He put his soul out there for everyone and I think it absolutely shined through. What a great representative of my home state Utah! I will definitely be supporting him in his career also.

WAY TO GO DAVIDS!!!!!!

You are both incredibly talented and will do amazing things! Thank you for sharing your talents with us! Congratulations to both of you!!

Finally...Los Angeles

So, finally, here it is..the last post about my trip. Yes, it's been 3 weeks since I got home, but I just never downloaded the pictures of the beginning of our trip when we hung out in LA and went to WICKED!!! But a really cool feature of my new laptop (which is not a Mac, sorry Jam) is that I can just insert the memory card from my camera into the computer and it will download the pics. I'm a fan! So here we go...
This is me, Jessie and Melissa as we are driving to California. Not a fun drive. But we did go to IHop in Barstow.

LOS ANGELES AND WICKED!

Me in front of the Panteges Theater in Hollywood. Wicked was absolutely incredible!!!!! I loved it the first time I saw it in Denver, but I can't even describe how much I loved it in LA. The cast was phenomenal and I had to pick my chin up off the floor on multiple occasions. If you have never seen it, I would recommend it to everyone! And we have finally found confirmation that the touring compay will be coming to Salt Lake the spring of 2009, so look for tickets. It is totally worth the money!

On Sunday afternoon Jessie and I went back to Hollywood to walk around and see the sights. Jessie had never been there before so it was fun to show her around. This is a picture of us in front of the Kodak theater.

I had never been in the Kodak theater before and it was awesome. There is a huge mall-like area that was lots of fun to walk around and go shopping! :) This is me in the atrium area.

In front of the Chinese theater.

These are the hand and footprints of the stars of Harry Potter. It's right in the middle of the chinese theater entrance. Totally cool.

My feet and Jessie's hand in Matt Damon's. Love him.

My feet in George Clooney's. Also love him!!

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

The Davids

I just can't decide!!!!!!!!! This has been my favorite season of American Idol ever and I just can't get enough of both David Cook and David Archuleta! Tonight was the final performance and it was a-ma-zing!!! I don't normally vote for reality shows, but this time I definitely couldn't because there is no way I would be able to decide!Last week, David Cook blew me away. Especially with his rendition of Aerosmith's "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing". It was his best performance of the season. In my opinion. I love his very distinct and rock'n'roll style. He also seems like such a great guy. He has gotten emotional the last couple weeks as he has continued into the finals. I am just a huge fan! Oh yeah, and did I mention...he is HOT!! :)Then there is the sweet little David Archuleta. I just can't say enough about this adorable kid. His voice is absolutely inredible and melts me every time I hear him sing. Tonight was definitely his night. He sang each of his three songs with such emotion and energy. This may sound kind of wierd, but I really feel like this 17-year old brings the Spirit every time he sings. He is so humble and real and I love it!
I really just have to say that I don't care who wins because they both deserve it and have the talent. I am a bit anxious and nervous though for the results tomorrow night.

I just hope David Archuleta doesn't pass out.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

#3

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EASTON!!I can't believe that it has been 3 years since this precious little boy came into our family!! I also can't imagine what it would be like if we didn't have him around to entertain us! ;) Being an aunt is the greatest and I love spoiling this kid.
May 16th was Easton's birthday and Landon and Haley had a birthday party for him, which included a horse cake make by my amazing sister-in-law! We had so much fun eating and watching Easton open his 20+ presents. Seriously.

This was a hysterical shirt that my Grandma Castillo gave to East. If only it were true... ;)Shell and I gave Easton this Cars table with little chairs that are absolutely adorable!! He loved it and I LOVE HIM!! Notice his gladiator gear also. He is obsessed with swords these days. I love this picture and am so glad that I get to be his aunt!

Thank you George W!

I'm not really sure that I approve of George W's plan to put money back into the economy by putting it into the pockets of the citizens of this great country, but I'm not one to complain when I magically have $600 appear in my checking account. And being the patriotic person I am, I decided to do with that $600 as it was intended...TO BE SPENT!!!Here is a picture of me with my new purchase. Well, techniclly it is taken with the webcam of my new purchase. I bought a new laptop and I am so excited about it!!! I've been wanting to get a new one and this money from China seemed like the perfect opportunity.

So, you might be hearing from me a little bit more now that I have this pretty little thing. Are you ready for that???