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!!

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!!!

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!!

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!!

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.

#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???

Cruise Part 4: Dinner

Basically, we ate a lot!!!! There is always food around! I think J and I would both say that our favorite part of every day was dinner. I love dinner time on cruises! We ate every night in the "Inspiration Dining Room". It was beautiful and so much fun. For those of you who have never been on a cruise before, for dinner you can eat at one of the buffets or you can go to the dining room and have incredible cuisine. You are assigned to a table and that is where you eat every night. Well, we lucked out. Our table was absolutely the best!! We had the best company and the best waiters in the world. (literally. our waiters were from Indonesia and the Philippines)

The first night on the ship, we went to the dining room and the matre'd took us to our table. Sitting there were two guys. We sat down and began talking to them. Their names were Mark and John and they were brothers who live in Chicago and Seattle and decided to meet in San Diego to go on vacation together. They are probably both in their 40's and hysterical.

Then a few minutes later came two more guys. As they were walking towards our table I thought to myself, "they totally look like they could be mormon". (one of my favorite games to play while on vacation is 'spot the mormon'! ;) Well, they sat down at our table and we learned that their names were Luke and Adam and they live in PROVO! Seriously. How random!

Our dinner family...Adam, Jen, Mark, John, Jessie, and Luke

Every night was a blast and we all ended up hanging out a lot. I have never seen anyone eat as much as Luke and Adam and I have never had 5 consecutive nights of laughing so hard I was crying. J and Luke - I told you we were constantly laughing. I took this picture right as Luke said, "I'm a pimp". Long story, so if you want to hear about it, let me know and I will dedicate a whole post to Luke being a "pimp". J and I with our wonderful waiters!! Dennis and Djedje!

The other fantastic part of dinner was our waiters, Djedje and Dennis. They were the best!!! They knew us by name and would always say hi when we would see them around the ship. They would joke around with us, but still be the most gracious waiters. They would sing and dance for us every night and always made me feel so grateful for what I have been blessed with. I was especially excited to see that Dennis was from the Philippines since that is where my sister served her mission for our church. They made our cruise so incredible!! I miss having dinner with these 6 guys every night! But no worries, Adam, Luke, J and I definitely have it planned to get us some warm chocolate melting cake together soon!! Doing the macarena at dinner. Hysterical!!!!!! And yes, Luke was about to vomit because he had just eaten so much!! I think that night he had eaten 3 appetizers, 3 entrees and 2 desserts.

Cruise Part 3: Ensenada, Mexico

Ensenada is not my favorite place in the world, in fact, I think it's pretty ugly and boring. The beaches are gross and it's definitely not a tropical paradise like Cabo. But this time, I actually enjoyed myself. We booked a city and shopping tour in Ensenada and it was quite fun. We visited some historic sights in town and learned a lot of history. We toured a winery, an old casino where American celebrities would visit during the 30's and 40's and went shopping on First Street (another fun place to bargain!)The view of Ensenada from the ship. Yes, that is the biggest Mexican flag you will ever see.

This was our adorable little tour guide Mariana. She was so fun and showed us some wonderful things in Ensenada.

But my favorite part about Ensendada was finding the most amazing taqueria!! It was called Mexico Lindo and it was wonderful!!!!!! That was pretty much the one thing that I wanted to do in Ensenada...eat real tacos. And these were probably the best I have ever had! I'm getting hungry just sitting here thinking about them!

Buen provecho!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cruise Part 2: Cabo San Lucs, Mexico

Our first stop on the cruise was Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Love that place! It is just gorgeous and we had a blast!! We booked a snorkeling excursion and were taken on an awesome speed boat out to the arch, Lover's Beach, Santa Maria and another snorkeling spot that I can't remember the name of. It was absolutely beautiful!!

This is one of the most amazing places I have seen. Is is where the Pacific Ocean meets the Sea of Cortez. There is a colony of sea lions there and is right next to Lover's Beach. On our boat. It was so much fun. We had to hang on for dear life and we flying through the water. Such a blast!!!This was one of the areas that we went snorkeling. The water was the most perfect temperature and the fish were awesome. Unfortunately, a few people in our group got stung by jelly fish. Well, actually, everyone but me got stung. But don't worry, the driver of our boat just pulled out some Windex to put on the stings. Seriously.

After spending time out in the water we went into town. We had lunch at Cabo Wabo (the most amazing fajitas I have ever had!), went shopping, and I had fun bargening!!

I loved Cabo and definitely want to go back soon! Who wants to go with??!!??

Cruise Part 1: The Ship

Ok, ok...here is what you have all been waiting for! There are so many pictures that there is no way I could post them all, so I'm just going to show some highlights. I want to post about the cruise itself right now and then i will post about our couple days in LA and seeing Wicked maybe tomorrow. So here is goes. Hope you enjoy...

We drove to San Diego on the morning of Monday, April 28. We got to the port, checked our bags, parked the car and headed to check ourselves onto the ship, the Carnival Elation. This is where are one and only heart attack happened. When we got inside to check in, Jessie realized that she had put her book with all her documents in her luggage that we had just checked. Oh no!!! I had my passport which makes life so much easier, but Jessie had to bring her birth certificate with her since she doesn't have a passport. Lesson #1 - eveyone should have a passport!!! We went and talked to the guys who we checked our bags with and they said they would see if they could find it. Well 25 minutes later they came back and said that we just had to go and try to get on without it. But they didn't say it that nicely... Luckily, because she is an American citizen she could board the boat, as long as she showed it when we returned to San Diego. What a relief!!

Standing on one of the top decks of the Carnival Elation

Leaving San Diego. Debbie & Melissa (sisters...I work with Melissa) and me and J (Jessie)

We had tons of fun on the ship. It was an absolutely beautiful ship. So many fun things to do and an amazing crew. In fact, we can't talk about he Carnival Elation without speaking in an Australian accent because of the cruise director Stu. We had 2 days at sea that we got to just lay out, eat, play at the pool, go on the waterslide, play miniature golf, eat, relax, read, drink pina coladas, play bingo and black jack, go dancing, eat, get tattoos and work on an awesome tan!

The muster drill. Just in case our boat decides to sink or catch on fire or something...

Just hanging out with the captain of the ship at the Drama Bar.

Adam and Luke on the mini golf course.

Laying out. Luke was freezing and I was enjoying the sun!! I have to admit that I got a really nice tan to start the summer off right!

Kind of laying out on the one pretty cold morning at sea. But it was still a beautiful day and I just couldn't stand being inside. Yes, i know, I look rediculous.

J and I in the karaoke lounge. We did this almost every night. So much fun! Especially when people have a little too much to drink!!

sorry

it is 7:38pm and i am still at work. ugh!!!! i'm sorry, but the post of my vacation is going to have to wait one more day. but i promise, it will be worth the wait!

and HAPPY BIRTHDAY HALEY!! thanks for being the greatest sister-in-law ever! love you!

Sneak Peek

I'm back! Honestly, I would much rather still be on the cruise or hanging out on the beach, but I had an amazing trip and so much to tell ya'll about. I don't really have time at the moment, so I'll just give you a little sneak peek. Enjoy and anticipate my return with fun stories and pictures of my adventures!!