Check out my kids

(Yes, that was a pose by Michael with the arms crossed. He insisted on looking sideways and folding his arms like that. He's hilarious.)

These are my little kids that I wanted to post as past of the 14 days of love but didn't. (Minus Breanna who is the total teacher's pet.) I teach them in church on Sundays and they are 6 and 7 years old. Actually, pardon me, they would say they were 6 and 3/4 or 7 and 1/2, etc. We get to play games, color, sing way too loudly, jump, dance, do kart wheels, and eat treats together. I'm pretty sure we're just supposed to be talking about Jesus, but we get to incorporate all these other things in while we're doing that. Mostly they are just excited for the fruit by the foot or zebra cakes I bring as their treat/reward at the end of class.(One of the boys always asks if he can have two.) My favorite thing that I have learned from them is that if I bring a craft for them to work on, I MUST have enough of every color option of paper for every kid. Because, it's just not fair if Brooke gets dark pink and there is only light pink left for Haylee. Love my kids.

Check out my Valentine

I am so sorry I failed at these love posts. I warned I would not be good at keeping up with such consistent blogging, but nonetheless, I apologize for not posting the last one on my Valentine. I don't want to say much cause I just wrote about him last month, but I love my Valentine for reasons such as these:



That's Nates's boss.




I also had some other days I wanted to put up but I just really failed miserably at all of this. So, I'm just gonna post them as I get the time. Love you all, hope you had a great Valentines Day.

Day #10 Check out my new little man

K I know I already posted this picture but it's the only picture I have of him so far. I love this little guy. I love him because he seems like a little freak already. He kicks, moves, turns, and punches like crazy every night when I lay down to go to bed or at around 5 o'clock to 6pm. I love watching the little spaz every night because it looks like there is an alien moving from side to side inside of me. He cracks me up with his sudden and spastic movements. I wish we had a name for him. All I know is I hope he looks like his dad when he was little. Just like this....

Day #9 Check out Mama Kay

(Her with son Nate)

This is Mama Kay, my second mother. (My best friend Lezlie's mom if you didn't know.)If it seems like I have an absurd amount of second families, I do. I think what happened was God ended up overcompensating me with loved ones all over the place for any lack of family I experienced earlier in my life. And mama Kay couldn't be a better compensation. (Her daughter n' law actually came up with the name mama Kay, and I haven't heard anything more perfectly suiting so I'm gonna use it too.)

Mama Kay has mastered bald headed, one breasted beauty. Yes, she's the ultimate survivor and she's had to regrow her hair from bald more times than any female would like to in life. And she's done all of her surviving with the best sense of humor, because in her eyes, there's cheer and positivity to be found in all situations life hands you.

This woman is the ultimate woman. She's the real and legit Angelina Jolie, adopting any troubled teenage soul(mine), Chilean grandchild, or Hawaiian neighbor. Kay has a crazy intuition and 6th sense for spotting any young person in need of love. It's kind of freaky: You've been lacking love, Kay will know and she will take you under her wings. And she does it with the utmost sense of humble secrecy. That's the best part about her love, it's in secret because it's sincere. If you are having a problem you will keep her up at night praying for you and losing sleep over you. Imagine the loss of sleep for her own children. My favorite thing about mama Kay is that she loves to write letters to express her love and concern. I love that about her because I'd almost always prefer writing a letter too in order to be able to express my love for someone.


( I love this one because she's got John's back in his #2 love:Golf)

Mama Kay is also the caring, selfless, wise, mother to four awesome successful children and the most faithful, loyal, dedicated, dressed to the nines wife to the amazing John Q. She is a killer gourmet chef, and after a 4 hr labor of love in the kitchen, she shows no sign of discouragement when any offspring of hers turn up their noses at an unfamiliar parsnip or escarole. She will even graciously and lovingly accommodate her holiday feasts to a gluten free diet if you are one of her cherished adopted children.

I am one of those cherished adopted children and I'm so proud to call myself such. She's showed me the true definition of charity: unconditional love. She's brought me closer to my God because of all her wisdom. She's really experienced it all; if you need any life advice, please just ask Kay. I'll give you her number if you need it, she'd love to talk to you. I love you mama Kay.

Day #8 Check out la familia Smart

I had to do this post after the post about my mission so, in case it was unclear before, it would be pretty clear now how much my experience in Argentina changed my life. My time in Argentina was really the start of Life Part 2 for me, and the steps that had to take place in order for it to happen revolve so much around one family that I have to involve them in these fourteen days of love posts.


These are the Smarts


The story starts first with their son Jake when I was 15. (He's the one to the left of his graduating mama above.) He was one of 2 of my first simultaneous Mormon encounters. I had never heard of the church prior and had no idea what it was all about. Since I had a huge teen crush on Jake at the time I watched his every move. I knew he had very strong beliefs and I knew he owned them. I mean, I knew they were completely independent of his upbringing. I had no beliefs of my own and I definitely didn’t know of one thing I stood for at age 15. It was very intriguing to me to know someone my age so smart who could tell me what was important to them and what they wanted out of life, when the only thing on my radar at the time was the next party on Friday night. I eventually started going to the LDS church and soon after I was baptized a member of their church. Best decision I've ever made in my life. Thank you Jake.

Then came Ryan..(see above with the sunglasses on)

For years after I joined the church I struggled trying to juggle both my normal party/lazy lifestyle of staying up late partying and sleeping in late(i.e. never making it to church), and trying to keep up with my desire to be a part of my new found faith. I always knew I had found truth in this church and that it made me happy, but I really had a hard time changing my lifestyle. Ryan came along at just the right time. When I was 20, he had moved back to San Diego the same time I did and the two of us had no other friends there. We actually weren’t even really great friends before moving back to San Diego. We ended up working together at Jimbos’s every day and became the best of friends. I’m pretty sure he was an angel sent to me personally to help me gain the will power, strength, and vision to change into who I wanted to become. Ryan taught me how to not just talk about change but to make it happen. He taught me the meaning of hard work, sacrifice, selflessness, commitment, love, and most of all faith. He’s one of the most faithful people I know. He was the crutch/angel I needed at that time to help me to stand on my own two feet. Ryan was someone who saw good things and potential in me I had no idea were there. He was the one who would let me share with him how I wanted to do what the girl missionaries that taught me did: go away for a year and a half somewhere and teach people these great things I had just learned.

That’s where David and Brenda come in...



I guess the conversations Ryan and I had about me dreaming about going on a full time mission for our church had been passed along to his parents David and Brenda. They talked without me knowing and one Sunday night these conversations Ryan and I had been having came up at the Smart dinner table . They asked what I thought about going on a mission. I told them how it sounded wonderful , like the greatest thing I could do to be able to give back to someone what I’d been given. They asked me why I wasn’t pursuing it. Now, you have to know that at this point, I knew a decision like this would be completely unfeasible for me. It wasn’t even ever something I thought seriously about doing because, just like any other humanitarian experience, you have to be able to support yourself financially up front in order to be able to go and be without a paying job somewhere for a year and a half. I knew how much it would cost, and knew there was no way for me to even consider doing it. I just thought Ryan and I talked about it kind of like how you talk about a really luxurious vacation you know will never happen, like “wouldn’t that be nice if we went?” I finally responded and I think I said “I don’t know.” They started talking and saying things like “We only have four boys and we always wanted to send a daughter on a mission,” and “We really need blessings right now.” I understood where this was going and started to cry. The rest of what was said is kind of a blur because I was so happy and cried so much. These weren’t comments in passing, this was a real life offer. I told them I couldn’t accept this and, knowing my demeanor , they denied me the opportunity to reject their offer. I had never been so grateful for someone taking control of my shyness and demanding me to accept such an offer.

And that is how I got to spend the happiest year and a half of my life in Argentina which started the beginning of a new me, and a new life for myself. That experience was the starting point for the wonderful life I have now. Thanks to my mission I have so much love in my life and couldn’t feel more complete. I’ve said it plenty of times before, but I cringe to think of what would have become of my life had I not went on a mission. I have the Smarts to thank for the greatest happiness I've ever experienced and I gained the Smarts as an awesome second family in addition. Thank you Smarts, I love you all.

Day #6 Each life that touches ours for good...

That is my favorite hymn and they are why:

This will probably be pretty boring for most of you to read, but hopefully the people I'm writing about get around to reading this. These people are people that I'm sure I knew and was dear friends with before this life. If I let myself think about them for longer than a minute or two I want to cry. These are my best friends that I probably will only get to see a handful of times throughout my life.
This is Lorena and Romina in the above two pictures. They were companions of mine on my mission in Rosario, Argentina, and they are both from Buenos Aires. We spent months together one on one working and growing together.
Lorena, above right, is probably the most angelic, God-oriented person I know. She is hilarious and she is a genius. There were times when we would be laying on the dirty cockroach floor cause we were laughing so hard. I felt so happy with Lorena. We made the strongest possible bond as friends and sisters that will never diminish no matter how in-often we get to talk or see each other.
Romina, is the most down to earth person I have dealt with. She was a total butthead at times and we had some pretty rough struggles together because of her hard-a attitude. But the best thing about her is that she will freely admit all of this and more. That's why I love this girl. We ended up becoming the best of friends and had some incredible experiences together because of the awesome chemistry we developed. I stayed with her and her family when I went back to visit 2 years ago( 3 years after I got home from Argentina), and she had only become more patient, selfless, and sweet than when I had seen her last. These two girls are two people I know I will be the best of friends with even after we die.

This is Norma (and me plus 30 lbs and Argentine panaderia carb face)
She is the angel of angels. I don't know why we clicked so much but we did. In fact, I know she's down there still asking any missionary from the U.S., 6 years later, if they know me or know who I am. And the feeling is mutual. I love this woman like a long lost sister. I can't even write about her life situation cause I'll cry. This lady, in addition to feeding us weekly with no money whatsoever, would ride her bike to our apartment in the frigid cold at night to check up on us and bring us even more food. Yes we shared a love for food, but it was so much more than that. She got me, and I got her, and we couldn't have changed each other's lives more. Norma is the reason for many decisions I make to this day. The video below is from when Romina (companion above) and I went back to visit her 2 years ago for the first time since we'd left. We clapped in front of her house for her to come out so we could surprise her. She had no idea we were coming. And this is why I love her to death.



I want to write about more of these eternal friends of mine but people can only take reading so much of this kind of stuff. So this will have to do for now. Love you friends.

Day #5 Check out this love mix I made for you

I love making mixes; especially when they are on c.d.s and it's the early 2000's with software programs to design your own sticky labels for the c.d.s. I love making Valentines Day mixes too. I've made one for you and I've decided to go with a cheerful love tone instead of a mellow indie/somber love song mix. I feel like it was the best decision, you know songs you can clean to. If you scroll down to the bottom of the blog you can download most of them from me. ( I tried to get them all up, but I had a lot of problems.) Love you friends!

1. Gipsy Kings - Djobi Djoba
2. Sade - Colour of love
3. Feist - Mushaboom
4. Garth Brooks - That Summer...This I preferred to be "Shameless" but I didn't have it on my computer
5. Astrud Gilberto - Agua de Beber
6. D'angelo - Feel Like Makin Love
7. Ella Fitzgerald - Our Love Is Here To Stay
8. Eydie Gormet Y Los Panchos - Sabor A Mi
9. The Isley Brothers - Between The Sheets
10. John Michael Montgomery - Hold Onto Me
11. Kings Of Convenience - I'd Rather Dance With You..This one is Nate's one song if he had a say in this mix
12. SWV - Love Will Be Right Here
13. Santana - Samba Pa Ti...don't worry, it's instrumental; in case i've done a little overkill on the spanish
14. Earth Wind & Fire - Fantasy

Day #3 Check out this eclair cake

This is the best dessert to make because it is easy breezy. You just throw a few ingredients together all willy nilly, and put the concoction in the fridge. It's not like baking where you have to be SO precise. You can do it as sloppy as you'd like to, like I do, and it still tastes so great. As far as I know, Sally invented this recipe. She used to make it all the time back in our UVSC branburry/glenwood days when I thought there was nothing wrong with eating an entire fresh loaf of bread from the bread machine. Sally knew this was my favorite dessert and even snuck it into me while I was in the MTC on my mission. (Via Diana Ojomo who worked in the MTC mailroom.) Anyway, Sally calls this Eclair cake, so that's what I call it. You only need the following ingredients:

1 box of graham crakers (generic brand will do)
2 small boxes instant pudding, french vanilla. (or whatever flavor really)
1 larger (not the small) container of cool whip (generic is totally fine once again)
a bunch of milk chocolate bars-like 3 symphonys or 6 or 7 hershey bar. (or even those little nubs of chocolate they sell in a microwavable container for strawberry dipping work too)

1. Make both instant pudding boxes according to instructions.



2. Mix the whole cool whip container into the pudding. Using something electric works best.



3. Lay down your first layer of graham crackers into your pyrex sized casserole pan or something similar. Be careful with your graham crackers, I get too rough with them and they crumble. They don't ever fit just right, don't worry.



4. Pour in pudding/cool whip mixture. Not all of it cause you will be repeating this process once more.


5. Lay down another layer of graham crackers.
6. Pour in some more pudding/cool whip mixture.
7. Lay down one more layer of graham crackers. ( probably will have used whole box by now.)
8. Melt your chocolate. I do it in the microwave. (you'll need more than pictured below)


9. Spread melted chocolate over dry top layer of graham crackers. Put it in the fridge 3 hours or more, the longer the better.

10. Take out and eat.


Happy day 3 friends, eat your hearts and thighs out.

Day #2: Check out my grandparents

(p.s. this picture is my grandma, me, and uncle larry)


(this is my grandpa and baby me)


I had to choose these pictures cause our scanner was acting up again, and these were the only ones that would come out right. Oh these two people, I wouldn't even know what love was if I didn't have them. They were my rock and any kind of stability growing up. I always loved going to my grandparents house and it still feels like home in their house they've been living in for 50 years. They cared for my brother and I like no one else did and still do to this day. They have the best personalities and are such interesting, grounded, smart, and savvy people. My grandpa used to love to take us to the Aerospace museum in San Diego when we were little and my grandma took me to see Carlos Santana in concert with her. (when I was 20 and she in her 60's) They always let us dress up in their boots and high heels as toddlers and snoop around in their stuff. My grandma is the best cook and loves to cook for her loved ones. My grandpa is a real handyman hard worker with the best financial smarts that ever existed. In their mid 70's, my grandpa still rides his bike around all of Mission Bay in San Diego and my grandma still works and bumps her favorite radio station (San Diego's Old School 92.5) on the way there. They are the best grandparents anyone could ever ask for and more. I love them to death and can't believe all that we've been able to experience together. They are so young and have so many years ahead of them to spend with Nate and I and our new little baby. I can't wait for all of that. Bottoms up to Augie and Evelyn, I love you both.

14 Days of Love: Day #1

Nate's mom did a fun Valentines Day build up for her kids every year called 14 days of love. She had a little red plastic heart with a little treat inside for them to open for the first 14 days of February. Each of the hearts had the kid's names on them and Nate really looked forward to this little tradition. By the way, he asked her the other day if she was still going to do it for them. Um, all of her kids are married and in their 20's and 30's with their own kids. But a likely question to ask nonetheless right?

I would like to take 14 days of love to my blog and bring love to you and this blog by coming up with something that will make you feel some kind of love in your cute little heart for the next two weeks. I don't have any of you with me here in AZ, so this is my only way to bring you a Valentines day treat. I decided to do this even though I know I won't be able to keep up with it because today was just one of those days that makes you awake to life again. Today ended up being a day that reminds you to stop moving along so quickly in your day to day, just looking one foot ahead of you. Today was a reminder to always be tapped into and focused on your ultimate vision and perspective of what you really want out of your life and what you want to make of it.

Day #1 Check out my mother n' law



This lady is a pretty great woman, and I've really come to love her. She is selfless, but not dumb. I know people think selfless mom = total bore and ding dong but this woman is brilliant. She is the end all be all, (well we could have some competition with Alison's mom) of all things literature. She is fun, talented, and very generous with her time and skills. I won't even start on geneology. But most importantly and most valuable to me, she raised a pretty great young man with a heart of gold. That heart comes from his mother and this is the day to celebrate it. Thank you Laurel for all the wear n' tear on your heart. Happy Day 1 of the 14 days of love. Love you friends:)