5, 6, 7, 8/30: ????

5. What are the 5 things that make you most happy right now?

1. My loving, supportive, loyal, hunk of a husband. I am so blessed to have him in my life.

He puts up with me...[I can be a handful or two]...and still looks at me with googly eyes.

I don't know how it's possible, because I already love him so much I could cry,

but I fall more in love with that man e.v.e.r.y. s.i.n.g.l.e. d.a.y.

I can't imagine a more perfect man, for me, to spend eternity with.

& family (forever more, "family" includes my in-law family)

...I'm really really blessed with an incredible family.

2. My testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and The Book of Mormon.

I know it, I (try hard to) live it, I love it. 

3. Food. It's true. I get really excited about good food. 

4. Working out. I'm so glad R and I joined a gym.

As hard as it is getting up so early every morning

(if it weren't for him, I would probably sleep through the alarms!),

I feel SO much better after a morning workout.

I'm glad we're making a habit of it now. 

5. Blogging.

It's my current favorite creative outlet.

Even though I'm not very good or consistent at it. Yet.

Decorating baked goods is too expensive. Blogging is free.

6. What is the hardest thing you have ever experienced?

When both of my parents had cancer. That is all. 

7. What is your dream job, and why?

Wellllllllll, my professional ambitions/interests have ranged 

from whale rider/trainer at Sea World to attorney to doctor to event planner.....

you get the picture...

I'm all over the place because I enjoy many things and think I could find happiness 

in several different career paths. 

However, the job I look most forward to is MOM. 

As scary as the thought is sometimes, I just can't wait for R and I to raise little bitties...get to teach them/ watch them learn, and make their birthday cakes, and celebrate them, and be their mom. So neat.

8. What are 5 passions you have?

1. Documenting life. 

I love to take pictures of us doing anything/everything. 

R hates pictures. 

Luckily, he has eternity to learn to love them as much as I do.

2. Honesty/kindness. I can't explain how passionately upset it makes me to know 

someone is being dishonest and it makes me even more upset to know someone is being mistreated.

3. The gospel of Jesus Christ - it's true. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true folks.

Learn about it at www.mormon.org.

4. Learning/trying new things. I really love to learn.

New words, new things, new cultures, new skills....love love love it.

5. Music. It makes me really happy. 

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MayFlowers...better late than never.

We started out May with the end of this season's Survivor.

You would think this is insignificant to mention in our blog buuuuut...

one of the last episodes had the part where they get to see a family member and the way they started

crying and running towards their loved one made me cry and say "it's like Heaven!" 

because I started thinking about forever families and being reunited. Emotional.  

There was one survivor who said her strategy for the whole game was to 

be humble. 

I think being humble is a strategy we can all apply to life.

"We don’t discover humility by thinking less of ourselves; we discover humility by thinking less about ourselves." 

-Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"Fill our hearts with sweet forgiving; Teach us tolerance and love." 

-In Humility, Our Savior (we sang this hymn at church last Sunday & those words stuck out) 

On a lighter note...

We had our monthly dinner with Kerri & Rob. It was a blast, as always. 

R's classmates had a Cinco de Mayo party. We took a flan. It was popular. 

We've been really into smoothies lately. 

I like to name the sky. R likes to name our smoothies. 

As in he calls them all a sunshine smoothie.

(a couple of the ways R hints at wanting a smoothie: 

"a sunshine smoothie sure would brighten my evening"...

"a sunshine smoothie sure would shed some light on the subject" [as he is studying])

We also experimented with oatmeal last month. 

Blended it up to make flour....made banana pancakes with it. 

R cooked them on his "friend", the griddle. 

They were excellent. Highly recommended. I share recipes.

Speaking of recipes, if you have some awesome ones, I'd appreciate them...

I've felt less than innovative in the kitchen lately & it stresses me out to not know what to make for R. ;)

As far as adventures go, we went to our first gallery night (decided once was enough)

& our first local baseball game. 

We got to go visit my parents for Memorial Day weekend. 

It was amazing, of course. 

We went to beaches, got belated Easter prizes, ate a ton (literally) of food, & enjoyed time with Ma, Dad, D, Gma, Gpa, Aunt A, Uncle M, and even got to hang out with Andrew & Sarah.

We hit up M-town on the way home & had dinner with with the family there.

We've done well with our gym commitment. Sometimes people watching there causes me to have serious thoughts during my cardio...like how some people just look lonely. & that I think every human desires to be loved. & how grateful I am for all of the love in my life. 

R FINISHED HIS 3RD YEAR OF MED SCHOOL! Onward to 4th year!

(so proud of him and all of his hard work/dedication!)

May pretty much FLEW by. Hence this entry is late. Woops! 

Life lesson of May: “be a duck,” meaning just let it brush off like water on a duck.

Things we're (I'm) looking forward to in June: The Bachelorette and Pretty Little Liars!!!

3&4/30: Describe your relationship with your parents. & List 10 things you would tell your 16 year-old self, if you could.

Describe your relationship with your parents

They are simply the best. I love them. EVERYBODY loves them.

Growing up, people wanted to hang out around my family because my parents were cool. 

Probably because dad is so adventurous 

and the first thing ma does when you walk in is ask if you're hungry. 

& even if you say no, there is about to be a burrito or plate of nachos or something on the table. 

In my eyes, my dad knows anything/everything about anything/everything. 

If I need help with something, I call dad. 

Mom knows exactly what to say in any/every situation. Just calling her if I'm in a bad mood, meltdown, frustrated, hungry, anything mood brings me back to reality because she reminds me everything is ok. 

They've shown me unconditional love and always express how proud they are of me. 

I never had a curfew or got grounded; they've trusted me and I've trusted them.

I have the best parents in the universe & I cry almost every time I have to say bye to them. 

AND now I have the best in-law parents a girl could ever ask for.

 P has such a pure heart and is so thoughtful 

(example: the day we got back from trying on my wedding dress - I hated it and was upset. 

When we pulled up, she was in the driveway 

ready to give me and hug and tell me she had fresh cookies on the counter). 

D just radiates love and gives the best hugs! 

Plus he lets me go work cows with him! 

They raised 4 boys and each one of them turned out great! 

It's an understatement to say I hit the jackpot as far as parents go. 

List 10 things you would tell your 16 year-old self, if you could.

1. The people who seem pretty cool right now...ya, they aren't. 

2. You're not as grown as you think you are. 

3. Don't be a snot to your parents, you'll realize how cool & loving they are and wish you could take it back.

4. Start thinking now about what major you want to pick in college...unbeknownst to you they are going to make you pick a major after freshman year...not sophomore. Thanks to your I.B. credits. 

5. You are not invincible. 

6. Don't be so afraid of failure/to speak up that you don't try out for parts in drama, be more creative in photography, or get what you want.

7. Tell people how much they mean to you before it's too late. Your aunt, the one who lived with you and taught you Spanish and who's kids are like siblings to you, and who brought you Mexican school books while you spent the summers in Mexico because you wanted to read while cousins were at school..she gets cancer and you don't get to say thank you. 

8. When you graduate, don't date that boy. If you're going to date someone, stick with the other one. 

But really, just wait until the year 2011...that's when you start dating the one. 

9. Don't wait so long to go back to Mexico. You miss the family more than you realize, you'll finally go back and wish you could stay and your chances to go are rarer and rarer the older you get. 

10. The only person you need to worry about making happy is your Heavenly Father. 

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