Sierra

New Blog

2010-09-27T19:04:00.001-06:00

Now that I am engaged I am starting a new blog for Josh and I. You can find it at joshandsierra.blogspot.com

Miami with Josh!

2010-07-15T05:10:00.009-06:00

I have been waiting to post about Miami because a guy that was on the same diving trip is supposed to send me pictures but hasn't yet (he now has so this has been updated!). It has now been about three weeks since my first trip to Miami to see Josh and I am in the airport now heading down there for the third time. I decided I didn't want to delay anymore! Especially because of some fun news!

My first trip to Miami was right after my trip to New York. Josh and I had started talking again and we had decided that it would be a lot of fun to go scuba diving... not a very hard decision, Josh and I always have fun together! The trip was amazing. I was down there as just a friend which turned out to be the best thing we could have done. It really created a base for a relationship and we knew our minds weren't filled with emotions that we didn't need at that time.

The dive was amazing! I'll add pictures when I get them. The dive was in Key Largo and called the Creature Feature. You can only imagine that there was a ton to see! Josh and I both hugged a shark multiple times! They were nurse sharks so nothing dangerous but still pretty awesome! We also saw lots of beautiful fish!

Here's a before and after pic.

After that we went a little further into the keys to go feed Tarpin with out new friends we met diving. Tarpin, at first glance look like sharks but aren't dangerous. It was a lot of fun! This was one of those activities that turns Josh into a giddy little boy... it's so cute, I love the little kid in Josh!

The rest of the trip was so much fun, snorkeling and getting to spend time getting to know Josh again and seeing how much we both have grown and matured since our last relationship.

I couple weeks after the first trip Josh's Dad, Vic asked Josh to meet up with him and his family for the fourth of July. I had met that side of his family a couple years ago when we had went to San Francisco. We all got along really well and Josh's Dad liked me so he told Josh to invite me to Virginia with them! Sadly I had to work that weekend but decided to meet up with them for a day and then fly to Miami with Josh and spend the rest of the week there.

The trip went so well it was crazy! I love Josh's family! We all got along so well and I felt so comfortable around them, they really were so accepting of me! We stayed on Chincoteague Island which was a really cool place. They are known for blue crabs, which were very tasty! Vic is going to send pictures of that trip too which I will have to post soon!

Back to Miami we did more playing at the beach and having fun! Josh did have to work on this trip so I got to hang out with his friend and new rep Mike. I also got to cook for the boys which they loved! I can't pass up an excuse to cook for people, I really love to cook, I just wish I was better at it... some day!

So the exciting news from this trip is that I am now off the market! Josh and I have been back together for almost a week now! I'm so excited to see where are relationship takes us. We both feel like this time is different and we have both grown and learned a lot. Hope for the best!

New York

2010-06-29T12:42:00.003-06:00

A couple weeks ago I went to New York to see Layla! I love that city and Layla and I always have so much fun! We went shopping, out to eat and to South Pacific on Broadway! I got a really cute Coach purse which a absolutely love! We ate at Lombardi's, which is one of my favorite pizza place's, the shake shack, which is a very popular burger place where I have my first burger in years, a street vendor that had pitas and we went to an amazing cupcake place! South Pacific was a lot of fun to see! I love the song "Wash that man right out of my hair"! Broadway is always an experience, and to make it better we got student tickets that were only $20! Here are some pics!

Lombardi's

Shake Shack... I only ate half a burger, I didn't know if my body could handle a whole one :)

Magnolia's.... Best cupcakes I've ever had!

The location of this theater was so pretty! New york has so much personality I love it!

New York Temple!

Boston

2010-06-25T05:57:00.004-06:00

A couple weeks ago I got to go to Boston to visit my sister and family! It was so good to see them! Boston was also a really cool city, my sister summed it up when she called it a "little big city". It really does have the feel of a smaller city then it really is! I can see why Marie loves it so much!

So working for Jet Blue defiantly has it's perks but the flight to Boston was horrible! I had to sit in the jump seat on our overnight flight so I was exhausted when I finally got to Boston... but that didn't stop us, after a two hour nap we were off. We went downtown and walked through a park and then down the street with all the designer clothes shops. We went into Burberry and of course I saw the cutest coat but it was $700 :( I wanted it so bad but there is no way I could afford it. Maybe someday! After that we went to a discount store like a Nordstroms Rack where I bought two dresses! Next we were off to Marie's favorite restaurant for a late lunch which was amazing and our waiter was really cute which made it even better! We then we and picked up my cute little nephews at school. The funniest thing happened when we picked them up, the oldest one Collin told me that I needed to have a baby. I told him that I need a husband first, he then told me that I'm the one that had the baby and did the work so I really didn't. Haha... kids can be so funny. I told Marie and she let me know that Collin really wants a baby around. The rest of the day was cooking and hanging out with the family.

The next day Marie and I did lots more walking and eating. We went to Harvard campus and walked around. It really is so beautiful, one of the prettiest in the country for sure. We went to the natural history museum on campus which was really interesting. There was an exhibit about evolution that got Marie and I into a debate and I am now determined to learn more about it.

It was really fun to get out to Boston to see family! My nephews are so cute and Peter, the youngest on is so incredibly smart! It was so amazing to hear him read! I sadly didn't take any pictures but I'll have to next trip!

Costa Rica and Washington DC!

2010-05-24T14:21:00.008-06:00

Costa Rica is one of my favorite places in the world! I just got back from my second trip and I was still amazed at the beauty of that country! I went with 3 boys which made the trip very interesting and entertaining. I only had met one of the boys a couple weeks before the trip(working for Jet Blue and being able to fly last minute came in very useful)!
The boys picked me up the airport and as we were driving to La Fortuna we saw a bungee jump place on the side of the road. Since that was one of the things we were planning on doing while we were there we stopped. This was one of the only places is Costa Rica where you can jump off a bridge so we decided to do it! It was for sure the scariest thing I've ever done but so worth it!

looking down

my jump

In La Fortuna we went swimming in the river with some of the locals and jumped off a rope swing.

A pizza place in Santa Teresa

The beach in Santa Teresa

The group driving around Costa Rica

The next place we went was Manuel Antonio which is a place I had never been. I have no clue why I hadn't been because it was the most beautiful place ever!

this was a restaurant in Manuel Antonio.

The prettiest sunset I've ever seen! I want to go back to this beach with my husband!

Crocodiles off a bridge! Crazy, there were about 25.

Jet Blue doesn't have connections that get back to Salt Lake in one day so I stopped in DC for a day and stayed with my friend McAllan.

Catch Up!

2010-04-11T14:11:00.008-06:00

It has been a long time since I have updated my blog and a lot has happened. I am currently working for Jet Blue Airlines, which I really don't like the job but the benefits are great. I've gone to California a couple times and am going again this next weekend! My roommate Lindy also works for Jet Blue so it's fun to have someone to travel with. We were thinking about going to New Zealand next month but might end up in Costa Rica because it's a lot cheaper. Either way we will be traveling a lot!

I went on the singles cruise again this year. That was at the end of January and a lot of fun! It was different then last year I think because it wasn't as social as last year and I didn't meet as many people. The stops were amazing though. We left from Miami which was a fun city and went first to Cozumel. There I went on a drift dive which was a lot of fun and then went to a beach and hung out with a guy named Eric who became my cruise crush! The second stop was Belize. There we went four wheeling and tubing through a cave. Our group had so much fun because we broke off and went down the river not connected to anyone else. Next we went to Roaton Honduras, this of all the places we went is the one that I want to go back to. Here we went to an iguana farm and then I went on a shark dive! I dive was amazing! There were 10 sharks that were 8 ft to 10 ft long! I wasn't even scared even though they were so close I could have touched them! Last we went to Grand Cayman. By that day we were so tired so Lindy, Jamie and I decided to just go to seven mile beach and lay out. It was so nice!

Cozumel

Belize

Honduras

Grand Caymen

The Ship

Miami

Thanksgiving and Turks and Caicos

2009-12-20T17:29:00.007-07:00

I'm a little behind so I'm going to try to catch up. For Thanksgiving my family went to San Diego! I LOVE California and would live there if I could. The weather was amazing and it was good to hang out with my family! I don't have many pictures but here are a few and I'll try to find more when I go home for Christmas.

This is Birch and Camille's newest member of the family, Haley. She is the cutest baby girl I've ever seen!

Here is Trevor and Haley

I got a new nanny job where I travel with the kids. Last week we went to Turks and Caicos. I didn't know where that was but it is the southern islands of the Bahamas! It is a very beautiful place! I got to go scuba diving in the ocean for the first time! It was so amazing! I saw sharks, a turtle, an eel, a lobster and a ton of beautiful fish! It was so cool! I can't wait to go again! Here are some pictures there!

This was an amazing place but believe me, it was more work then play. I wouldn't mind going back someday with my husband!

October Fun!

2009-11-01T19:37:00.015-07:00

October has been a fun month! It's the best month because it's not only Halloween but it's my birthday month! Not that I am super excited about being a year older but I am learning to embrace being 25 and single. I have a great life! This month I've carved pumpkins, gone to haunted houses, parties, a trip to cali and I got scuba dive certified!

This is the pumpkin the Josh and I carved on the Halloween date that Lindy and I planned.

Here is the group, Lindy has all the good pictures so I'll try to put more up soon.

For Halloween we decided to be the pussycat dolls. It was so great! We had a party the weekend before Halloween and these are the pictures from that.

I got my costume in cali and the lady who worked there helped me pick it out and then cut the back of my shirt for me. I thought it looked so cool!

Me, Jamie and Lindy

All 5 of us

Birthday Cake!

Jamie, me, Amber (my other roommate), Lindy

These are the pictures from actual Halloween, we had to get 2 new girls and if you look closely one of us isn't a girl... so funny!

Mine and Lindy's California trip!

We went to the Angels Yankees game 3 where the Angels won! So much fun, but I've never been hit on more in my life.

Venice Beach... random camper.

Huntington Beach, I love this place!

We went surfing!

Josh and I got scuba certified! So fun! I can't wait to go in the ocean!

Living in Utah again...

2009-10-13T18:51:00.002-06:00

I am back in Utah and living in Sandy. I really wanted to get out of Provo so I got up the courage and moved 40 minutes away! I figured, at least I'm out of happy valley right? So far it's been great! I have the best roommate I could ask for right now! Her name is Lindy and we have so much in common. One of my friends found this place for me and told us we are the same person with different colored hair, it didn't take long for us to realize he wasn't kidding. So it's been a really good change. I miss Alexis (who is now married and living in Georgia) and Ashley (she lives in Holiday so I still see her every once in a while!) but this was the change I needed coming back. I'm still looking for a job, the economy is not helping that situation. It really is so hard to find anything, so I am a college grad working as a waitress. I thought life was supposed to get better after graduating and that I would be making more money. Not so! I have decided that college is over rated and a waiste of money.... just kidding. Someday I'm sure I'll be glad that I graduated. I have no clue what is in my future at this point. Hopefully get a job or find a nursing school somewhere to get into.

2009-09-23T14:50:00.004-06:00

I have been back from El Salvador for a while now but I need to catch up on what we did. Here is a little overview of all the projects. More pictures will come soon.

El Salvador Projects:

Habitat for Humanity-
We did Habitat once a week, on Fridays. Habitat’s purpose is to provide quality housing for low-income families, which is especially important in a place like El Salvador where floods and mudslides are often deadly due to the poor construction of most Salvadorean houses.
LDS English-
We taught English classes at the LDS Employment Resource Center on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings. I taught the advanced class which had between 10 and 15 students. Our purpose in this project was to provide a skill that has tremendous economic power, namely English, to individuals who would not otherwise be able to attain it. We worked with the local LDS church to establish the classes as a permanent opportunity for the local people. One of the ways the class became more stable was to have the advanced class to take over the teaching of the lower level classes.

CIPI-
CIPI is a government refuge for abandoned or abused children ages 0-18. They have around 70 children in their care. Most are girls and most stay for a few months until they can be placed with other family members or transferred to a more long-term institution to meet their specific needs. They have three major populations: Preschool-aged kids (mix of boys and girls), pre-adolescent and adolescent girls (8-18), and special needs kids (with mental and physical disabilities). We completed a multi-week education course for the adolescent girl population that focused on developing the girls’ social and educational skills. I started a project with the girls call CIPI Sports. I saw that the girls don’t ever get outside to exercise. I met with them once a week and did some kind of exercise to get their body moving and their hearts pumping. The girls loved the activity with soccer being their favorite sports. We also painted the pre-school so that the kids had a better environment to play and learn in.

FUDEM-
FUDEM is a non-profit organization famous in El Salvador for offering eye care to the masses. They do inexpensive or free eye exams and surgeries and provide glasses at a discounted price. With their mobile eye clinic they go out to the most underprivileged areas of El Salvador and do eye exams, often treating hundreds of people in a single day. We assisted them with the “Ventanitas de Luz” program, which takes eye care professionals into local schools to do eye exams and to help identify correctable problems. We helped take flyers around to children at various schools so that they know who we are and we would share information about FUDEM’s offerings with their parents We also helped the eye doctors do visual acuity testing at various schools or community centers.
Balsamo-
Balsamo is a non-profit organization specializing in microfinance and community development that has been working in El Salvador for 20 years. This year we focused on three main projects: the BEST game, square-meter gardening, and environmental protection. We worked with communities in El Tular and San Lucas, both of which are located in the department (county) of Sonsonate. We ran modules of the BEST game with local business owners, helped schools and families set up sustainable gardens, and did skits about health and the environment with the children in the communities.

Hospital Zacamil-
This is a hospital that traditionally serves some of the poorer populations of San Salvador. They loved our help; we would assist the nurses with patient care and other basic functions. I put together patient education materials which we left with the head nurse and she gave it to the patients. We also put together a folder with games for the patients so they would have something to do during the day.

Hogar Providencia-
Hogar Providencia is a home for boys that have been orphaned or are coming from troubled backgrounds. There were 25 boys in the home and we taught them a variety of skills in workshops. We taught them: basic English, study skills, spirituality, literacy, health and hygiene, and values.

Bus Health-
I wanted to develop an easy way to teach a lot of people about health. With all the people riding the local buses I came up with the idea to deliver information to this readily available captive audience. We would go on the busses and give a few minute presentation about a certain topic and then hand out flyers to reinforce the principles we taught.

Guatemala

2009-07-17T15:33:00.011-06:00

Last week I went to Guatemala! It was so much fun I LOVED it! It was so beautiful and there were so many amazing things to see! We took a bus into Guatemala City and went by the temple which was really cool. We didn't go in but I wish we could have, that would have been a really awesome experience. After that we went to Antigua! Antigua is such a cool city that has a lot of history. It was so cool to see the cathedrals and of course go shopping because they have all the handmade crafts there. The food there was also wonderful! I hadn't had food that good since I left the States! On Sunday night four of us took an overnight bus to Tikal! I am so happy that we did this because it was so amazing to see the ruins and temples that are thousands of years old! It was also really cool to think that this could have been one of the places talked about in the Book of Mormon! Here are some pictures!

Here is all of us at the temple. The order is Cole, Allen, me, Tawnee, Crystal and Taylor:

We are at dinner at the best place ever! The food was sooo good!

This is in the market after a few hours of shopping.

The Cathedral

This is one of the Cathedrals we went in (this one is more like a ruin)

In the monastery right next to the Cathedral

Here are all the temples we saw in Tikal

This is the town we stopped in and to get to and from Tikal, Flores

Guatemala was an amaizing trip and I would love to go back and experience more of the culture and country!

USNS Comfort

2009-07-01T18:19:00.001-06:00

This last week our team went and volunteered with a ship full of military doctors. The ship has been going to different countries since April and giving the people free medical care. The LDS church donated a lot of money and has been involved every stop they’ve made by helping supply translators for the doctors. Since most of my team is fluent in Spanish they called us and asked if we could go and help! I of course can’t speak Spanish so I had a different job every day.

We started out in a city called La Union which was where the boat was. The first day I filled out paperwork for each patient that came in. This was interesting because I had to still had to speak a little Spanish so I could fill in all the correct information. Luckily I had Alisha, another girl with HELP, to get me through.

The second day I worked in optometry which was really fun! I didn’t do much, just made sure all the people knew where to wait and where to go. The doctors were really nice which made the day awesome; one even took the time to explain to us what was going on with different people’s eyes!

The third day I worked in the pharmacy. I liked this because I stayed really busy and I was able to practice my Spanish. I had to tell the patients what I was giving them and how often to take the meds. Good thing for me it was written on the bag so really I just had to read it to them. The hardest part was calling the names out when their prescriptions were ready. Some people didn’t even realize I had said their name until the fifth time I said it! Oh well, it was good practice!

The forth day was probably the best one; we went to a new town called Pasaquina. I really liked this place because it was set up differently so everything was closer together. Because of this I was able to talk to a lot of new people and get to know who the people were I was working with. I also met a really cute doctor named Andy which defiantly made the day more exciting; to bad I didn’t meet him till the last day I was there. Anyway, that day I helped people in the lines for internal medicine and then observed a doctor talk with his patients.

doctor Andy!

Overall this was a really good experience. I was really nervous going into it because I don’t know Spanish and I thought I wasn’t going to be any help. By the end I really didn’t want to leave (and not just because of the cute doctor J ). This trip made me realize even more that I want to be able to help people like this in the future and that I need to go to nursing school.

Random pictures:

have you ever seen a burger king in a trailer?

the view from the hotel the soldiers were staying in... ours was for sure not that good.

the ocean

Scary... young boys with huge guns

there were fireworks one night and I love this picture

Living in El Salvador

2009-06-22T16:51:00.002-06:00

Disclaimer: This post is in no way me complaining and saying I want to come home. I am glad I’m here and am really looking forward to the next nine weeks I’m going to be here!

Things I miss about home…

Being able to wash my clothes in a washing machine and drying them! We have to wash our clothes in a pila, which is a type of sink. This takes a really long time which we don’t seem to have a lot of here. One thing about living in a place that is hot and humid is clothes take a really really long time to dry, which means they smell bad. So… I am grateful that I live in a place I can easily wash and dry clothes.

My bed! We sleep on cots which yes , I am getting used to but still I would LOVE to sleep in a real bed where I can spread out and get a good night’s sleep.

Not having to use bug spray five times a day. Mosquitoes are everywhere! And for some reason I guess I taste really good because they just won’t leave me alone! Good thing there aren’t many nasty diseases people get here like malaria or I would be in trouble.

Having a car. Ok so this one isn’t totally true… I actually don’t like driving, maybe because I don’t have a nice car and I’m always worried I’m going to get stranded somewhere on the side of the road. I know I would love driving if I had a nice car that was fun to drive (like maybe Austin’s M5 J). Anyway, we travel in buses here and that seems to be an interesting experience. Some of the busses are pretty ghetto and I have to wonder about how safe they are. It’s pretty funny because some of them play music and have neon and black lights. At certain times of the day they tend to pack us in like cattle; if you have problems with personal space that goes out the window pretty quick. Luckily we are all smart about keeping our stuff close so none of us have gotten anything stolen. I also miss having air-conditioning.

Personal space and privacy! I haven’t shared a room since I was a freshman in college which sadly was six years ago. Come to think of it, that was the only time I’ve ever shared a room! Not that I don’t like my roommate Taylor, I do, she is great and lots of fun! It just takes some getting used to. The house I live in has no privacy; it is built so that everyone can hear you all around the house. So if you don’t want everyone in the house to know about it you better not say it… which makes talking on the phone a little difficult sometimes!

Understanding the language! That is a big one! I wish so badly that I knew Spanish! Why didn’t I take more in school or at least try harder to learn before I came here?!? One of the most frustrating things is being at a project and not being able to help or talk to the people because you can’t communicate efficiently.

Not feeling like I’m going to get lung cancer every time I breathe while in the city. San Salvador is pretty polluted and the cars and busses give off a lot of exhaust. I am pretty into the environment and not ruining it so when I see this it makes my stomach turn. I now try to be careful about when I take a breath.

Those are some of the things that I’ve thought about since I’ve been here that are different about living in El Salvador. It’s nothing I can’t handle though, I mean I wasn’t expecting to come here and have all the amenities I do at home. I mean shoot, I wasn’t expecting hot showers but most of the time I get one!

I love El Salvador so far and think that this has been and will be an amazing experience! The people here are so awesome, the locals and all everyone I live with! This is also such a beautiful country and I’m excited to see and learn more about it!

First week in El Salvador!

2009-06-16T13:08:00.007-06:00

So I made it to El Salvador! This is such a beautiful country and the people have been so nice! Right now there are 10 of us and we are living in a pretty nice house. Our neighborhood is has guards with big guns which you get used to seeing pretty quick because you see security guards with guns everywhere. I forgot my camera cords so as soon as I can get a card reader I will add pictures :(
The first full day I went out and did eye exams with a nonprofit here called Fudem. It was a lot of fun to see all the people in the little community we went to.

Every Friday we go volunteer so that is what we did the second day I was here. Building houses is a lot of work and the heat does not help either. But it will be a good experience. After that we went and taught English at the LDS office building. We do that every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Since I do not speak Spanish I am teaching the advanced class so that will be fun!
This weekend we went to an YSA dance on Friday night which was a lot of fun. These Latin people sure can dance! Everyone really likes to try to talk to us and get to know us so we are making a lot of friends! The next morning we went to the beach! We stayed in a beach house owned by a lady in our ward so that was nice to have the whole day to relax. The waves there were so strong! Of course I was the first to run in and I was quickly swept of my feet into the water! I got sand everywhere! We still were able to do some boogie boarding despite how crazy the waves were! That night we had a fire on the beach and made smores! So perfect!
Sunday we went from the beach to church. Then we were invited to dinner (which I found out that we are pretty popular so that happens quite a bit!).

On monday we went to a couple of orphanages which was been great! The first one was Hogar Providencia which is a boy’s home. We are teaching them English and they were so great! They are so cute and such good boys!

The other home is CIPI which is a girl’s home and most of the girls have been sexually abused so that is sad :( I am actually trying to put together a workout class for them and that will be my project that I will be in charge of a couple times a week!
Today we went with Fudem and handed out flyers at schools so the kids know they can get their eyes checked. So far it has been really fun and a good experience. I will try to post pictures asap so everything will come together and you can really see what I am doing!

Last Provo Summer

2009-06-07T16:58:00.008-06:00

Provo summers can be so much fun. Unfortunately I haven't had many of them because I have gone other places. I was lucky enough to have part of a Provo summer before I have to leave. There are so many fun things to do like hiking, camping, Lake Powell, and just having fun in the sun. Here are some of the tings I did while I was there.

Here are some of the camping/fires and tin foil dinners:

Just in case you are wondering this is our back yard and Alexis and I did dig a hole in the grass so we could make tin foil dinners. It was harder then you would expect!

I absolutely love hiking! Living in Provo has been so great because there are so many canyons and the mountains have always been in my backyard. I wish I would have taken pictures on my hikes but I didn't :( Here are is just one of the hikes I went on with Ashley.

There was a huge pipe that we decided to be daring and walk across. Ashley needed a little help getting across at first.

The Festival of Colors is a Hindu festival where everyone throws chalk at each other! Kinda wild but fun until you can't breathe.

One thing that a lot of people do during the summer is go to Lake Powell. I had never been on a friends trip there before. A couple weeks ago I was lucky enough to go. I went with Hilary and Ashely and a big group I didn't know. It ended up being a lot of fun getting to know some new people.

Winter semester recap

2009-05-30T18:27:00.005-06:00

I went to school this last semester and passed all my classes! Which means that I am done with school! I'm so excited but nervous to find a job.

Here are a few of the things that we did during that time. I'll do a summer post before I leave for El Salvador!

This is just a group of us after dinner. These are some of the boys we used to hang out with all the time

We do parties at our house every once in a while and the next two pictures are from a spring fling dessert party we had.

Thanks to Alexis I got to go to the MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice concert! It was so much fun! We were VIP, got backstage, danced on stage and I even crowd surfed... now that was wild, I almost died! It was a blast! To top it off Vanilla decided to go bowling at Fat Cats in Provo the next night so of course we were invited so that is the first picture!

There has been so many fun things that we have done! This semester has to be one of the most fun ever!

New Blog

2009-04-13T23:49:00.002-06:00

I am starting another blog called Health Around the World. It is going to be the place I will be writing about all the projects I'm doing like my internship this summer in El Salvador. This (my personal blog) will be for the fun stuff and the other one will be more serious work stuff. If you are interested check it out. healtharoundtheworld.blogspot.com

Cruise!!!

2009-03-06T18:04:00.008-07:00

At the end of January I got to go on a cruise to the Mexican Riviera! It was so much fun! It was a normal cruise but some people put together an LDS singles group so there were about 250 us! We all had so much fun laying in the sun, dancing, seeing Mexico and getting to know each other! Here are some pictures:

After lunch in Mazatlan

Late night pizza and ice cream on the boat

Puerto Vallarta

One of my favorite pics. Jackson and me in Puerto Vallarta

Tiffany and me in Puerto Vallarta

Cabo

Adam and me on one of the formal nights

Adam and me our first day at sea

Quick Update

2009-02-19T21:49:00.003-07:00

I am really bad at posting now that I am back in Utah. I had so much time this summer, but I am going to try to keep this updated.

Since my last post there have been a ton of fun things... Christmas was fun to be with the family, everyone was there but Brooks. Then for new years I went to San Diego for my roommate Jonny's wedding. It was beautiful. After the wedding we had a New Year's party at Alexis's house which was so fun.

I went on a cruise a coupleof weeks ago that I need to post pictures from. It was so fun, best vacation ever! I met so many fun people! One of which I went to visit in LA this past weekend ;)

I am back in school... I'm not going to lie... I'm not a big fan of it right now, generals are no fun. It's good though because I'll graduate soon.

So now the big news... I'm go to EL SALVADOR for the summer with help international!!! This will count as my internship. I am so excited! Any of you who know me know this is perfect for me! International work has always been my passion and I'm so excited to go to a third world country to help other people. It will be so nice to be able to not think about myself and all the drama of the single life and just put all my energy into other people. I will be leaving in June and coming back in August!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2008-11-27T11:08:00.005-07:00

It has been so long since my last post... My excuse is that my computer is so old that it takes forever to do anything... also I've been kind of lazy.

I'm in San Diego for Thanksgiving with my family. It's good to see everyone and catch up. I'm not sure what is planned for the weekend but it is nice to get out of Provo for a while.

Since it is Thanksgiving I am going to do a thankful post... I know kind of cheesy but I going to do it anyway... So I am thankful that I have a good life. There are so many crazy things going on in the world and I am blessed to have a strong family and good friends to help me get through it. I am thankful that I was raised with the gospel because my life would be so different without it. With all the scary things that are going on even more then ever I know I need to be as strong and as solid as I can be.

There are so many things that I am thankful for but I'm going to leave it at that one. I have so much to catch up on so I'll be working on getting all my pictures together and will hopefully get them posted before I go home and don't have access to a computer that actually works.

Back in Utah

2008-09-21T21:08:00.005-06:00

I've been back in Utah for a couple weeks now and it has been crazy, but good to be back. I'm not taking classes on campus this semester so that has been so nice! I don't know how good of an idea that was though because I have a couple classes left and I'm having a hard time motivating myself to get them done online. I'll get my degree though, I promise.

Since I'm not going to school I have time to do other things. I am back working at Ruby River, which sucks but hopefully I won't have to stay there for to long. Layla and I started a business called Hott Couture, we sell Juicy Suits, Ed Hardy shirt, jewelry, hats and sunglasses. That has been fun and I'm looking forward to when we are going to be able to keep some of our profit and not just put it back into the business. I've also been getting back into aerobics and that has been so nice. I am hopefully going to get certified to teach pretty soon. I am helping my friend Amy teach her Monday morning class at UVU so that is good practice. I'm teaching alone for the first time tomorrow.

The thing that made me hesitate more then anything about moving back to Utah was Josh. Everything is over for real this time, which is a good thing but hard because he was my best friend. I figured that it would be ok to move back because there are so many people here we wouldn't run into each other for at least a while... I was very wrong, I randomly ran into him 3 times in the first week and a half I was here. I couldn't believe it! Now that we are both single and are back into that scene I'm pretty sure I'll see a lot more of him then I want to.

On a happy note, I have awesome new roommates that I have a ton of fun with! They are exactly what I needed to help me get through this. Here are a couple pictures.
Night hike to the Y:

Walk to Bridal Veil Falls:

Wrapping up NYC

2008-09-07T15:28:00.011-06:00

I am back in Utah but I need to still post about a few things we did that I haven't been able to post about yet.

A few weeks ago Layla, Austin, Jake and I went to Palmyra and Niagara Falls! Keep in mind that we only had Sunday's off so we did this whole trip in pretty much one day, and Niagara Falls were about 7 hours from our apartments... so we didn't really get much sleep that weekend.

Sacred Grove:

The Smith Home (can you imagine 12 people living in this house?):

The "Dream" House:

Hill Cumorah:

Niagara Falls:

As you can probably tell we had so much fun on this trip! Not only was it fun but it was such an awesome experience to be able to see all these church sights that are always talked about. It's a good reminder about how the church was reestablished on the earth and all the sacrifices that were made for that to happen.

We went to another really good pizza place in the city. I think I my have liked it a little better then Grimaldi's but everyone else liked Grimaldi's better.

Our Last week we finally made it to a bar... I know that sounds bad but it was a really cool place that is well known because so many famous musicians have played there and just go to listen to the awesome house band!

This summer has probably been one of the best I've had! I was able to live in a city that has more to offer then most cities in the world! I miss it so much and can't wait to go back. The summer wouldn't have been nearly as fun without the friends that I had! I lived with Layla and Austin and they were both great! They were so easy to live with and never made me feel uncomfortable or like they didn't want me around (which they had to feel sometimes because I'm sure they would have liked a little more alone time). I want to thank them for asking me to come out this summer and letting me live with them! And even though I was with Layla 24/7 for the summer I miss her and am so happy that we have a business together now so that we at least get to see each other a couple times a week! I also made some great friends out there, all the guys were so much fun! Thanks Jake for always letting me drag you around so I wasn't the third wheel, I couldn't have asked for a better friend!

Life in the City

2008-08-20T17:39:00.003-06:00

Layla and I are starting our own business selling Juicy Suits, Ed Hardy shirts and some accessories (hats, sunglasses, jewelry). We get some of our stuff on canal street which is right next to Little Italy... such cute part of NYC! After our recent shopping trips we have made our way over there to eat lunch! We have had some amazing pastas!

Last week Jake's sister and her friend came into town so we had an excuse to go and do a few more things in the city that I had wanted to do. We went and walked around the Financial District and went to Battery Park to see the statue of liberty. I was hoping that I would find my husband on wall street but no luck... Oh well.

BROOKLYN!!!

2008-08-18T19:47:00.017-06:00

Is it just me or does everyone else think of Spock Conley form Newsies whenever they hear Brooklyn? Well I do, we actually watched the movie about a month ago and it is so funny how in love with him and Jack I was forever ago!

Last Sunday Layla, Austin, Jake and I went to the Brooklyn Bridge and ate really good pizza! It was such a fun day! We drove across the bridge so that we didn't have to walk the whole way there and then all the way back. Once we got there we went straight t0 a little pizza place called Grimaldi's. We had heard that it was the best pizza out here and I really think it is!

After we finished eating we went and tried to burn off all the calories and walked about a third of the way across the Brooklyn Bridge. It was so beautiful. We had so much fun!

I keep thinking that I couldn't have more fun and every weekend is just amazing! I absolutely love it out here! I am so lucky!

Twilight Books

2008-08-14T17:39:00.003-06:00

I just finished Breaking Dawn and loved it! These are such fun books, I recommend them to everyone! I look the quiz telling me which character I would be and this is what it came up with:

You are thoughtful and care very deeply for your family. A loving home is of great importance to you and you always try to make people feel welcome. Although you have a great capacity to love, you also have a great capacity to hurt, so at times you can be sensitive. You're firm when you need to be, but people trust your judgment and appreciate the kind way you always handle things.

Cafe Rio brought to NY!

2008-08-13T16:18:00.006-06:00

Last week Layla and I made Cafe Rio (aka Costa Vida) salads for the office! It was a very long process, 2 days preparation, but so worth it! It tasted so good and the guys loved it! Some of them even said they liked it better than the real thing... I think they were either trying to be nice or they just haven't had a Cafe Rio salad in a really long time... either way Layla and I were really happy with how everything turned out!
The cooks:

The salad:

Here is the recipe for those of you who want to try:

CAFE RIO SWEET PORK
2 lbs. Pork Loin (lean cut)
3 cans Coke (NOT diet)
1/3 c. brown sugar
dash garlic salt
1/4 c. water
1 can sliced green chilies
3/4 can enchilada sauce (I used Old El Paso brand, mild)
1 c. brown sugar
Put the pork in a heavy duty ziplock bag to marinade. Add about a can and a half of coke and about 1/4 c. of brown sugar. Marinade for a few hours or overnight.
Drain marinade and put pork, 1/2 can of coke, water, and garlic salt in crock pot on high for about 3-4 hours (or until it shreds easily, but don't let it get TOO dry). Remove pork from crock pot and drain any liquid left in the pot. Shred pork.
In a food processor or blender, blend 1/2 can Coke, chilies, enchilada sauce and remaining brown sugar (about a cup, you can add a little more or less to taste..). If it looks too thick, add more Coke little by little.
Put shredded pork and sauce in crockpot and cook on low for 2 hours.

CILANTRO-LIME RICE
1 c. uncooked rice
1 tsp. butter or margarine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
1 can (15 oz) chicken broth
1 cup water
1 freshly squeezed lime
2 tsp. sugar
3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro
In a saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic, 1 tsp. lime, chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender. Remove from heat. In a small bowl combine lime juice, sugar and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice and mix in as you fluff the rice.

BLACK BEANS
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/3 c. tomato juice
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. fresh chopped cilantro
In a nonstick skillet, cook garlic and cumin in olive oil over medium heat until you can smell it. Add beans, tomato juice, and salt. Continually stir until heated through. Just before serving stir in the cilantro.

CREAMY TOMATILLO DRESSING
1 (7 oz.) can Salsa Verde (Herdez Brand)
4-5 fresh Tomatillos (chopped)
1 1/2 packets Hidden Valley Ranch Mix
1 C. Sour Cream
1/2 C. Mayo
1-2 jalapenos (usually seeded, but can leave seeds in depending on desired spiciness)
1 T. Sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
Juice of 1 Lime
Cilantro (handful)
Salt & Pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients in blender and mix until smooth. Refrigerate. (Make this the day before and leave refrigerated.)

Good luck to all and just to warn you, the dressing won't really taste right unless you do refrigerate it overnight!

Girls Day Out!

2008-08-07T17:41:00.008-06:00

Last Sunday Layla and I had a girls day, kinda funny because we have girls days everyday cause the guys are always working, it was so much fun though! It's nice to just do what we wanted because it's not always the same as what the guys want to do. The first thing that we did was go to Cafe Lola, which was amazing!!! We had breakfast and it was the best I think I've ever had... at a restaurant that is. Cafe Lola is the place on You've Got Mail where Tom Hanks realizes that Meg Ryan is shopgirl! This was definitely one of my favorite places I've eaten!

After Cafe Lola we did a little shopping which I was very proud of myself because I didn't buy anything! Then we went to see Jersey Boys! My Uncle is one of the financial backers of the play so he got us house tickets! The seats were awesome! It was about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. You would recognize the songs like, Big Girls Don't Cry, Sherry, Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You and many others! It was such a fun play to watch! Thanks Ivor

After that we just started to walk around not wanting to go home and decided to go to the Rockefeller center. This is where the Christmas tree is every year! On our way we found a swap meet and decided to try the food on the street. It was pretty good, I ate it more for the experience though :)

After all that we went and saw Mama Mia in the theatre. It was such a girlie movie. It was a really fun day and Layla and I had so much fun on our girls day in the city!

Serendipity

2008-07-29T20:26:00.002-06:00

I finally got to go to Serendipity! You may recognize it from the movies 'Serendipity' and 'One Fine Day'! It is a cute little restaurant that has really good drinks and deserts! I would defiantly recommend it to anyone who comes to NY!

Wicked

2008-07-29T20:19:00.004-06:00

Layla and I went and saw Wicked last Friday night! It was really good and a lot of fun. We missed our bus and thought that we weren't going to be able to make it but luckly we made it there only 10 minutes late and they let us in!

I forgot 4th of July

2008-07-19T15:27:00.004-06:00

For the 4th Layla and I went down to South Street Seaport and saved spots for us to watch the fireworks. It was a really cool place! We waited for about 5 hours for the guys to get there but it was totally worth it! It was such a fun night!

New York continued

2008-07-19T13:30:00.018-06:00

So I am trying to catch up on the summer and I am realizing that it will take way to much time so I've tried to just touch on a few of the cool things that we have done this summer and put pictures up. Now that I have this blog I am going to have to keep up on it so I don't miss anything. So I'm going to just start with some random pictures that I didn't make a category for!

We went to the MET before Chicago and it was amazing. We didn't have a lot of time so I didn't get to see much but it was really cool. I decided that Monet is by far my favorite painter! I loved his work! Oh and sometimes it's hard to get guys to take nice pictures, obviously I didn't succeed this day.

I've been able to go to a couple of Broadway shows so far, Legally Blonde and Chicago. I still have a couple on my list so hopefully I'll make it to a few more!

We went to the beach one Sunday! It was a lot of fun!

Pinkberry... the most amazing thing in the world. It's like ice cream/frozen yogurt but better. It's just like Red Mango and Spoon Me. The first time that I had this stuff was at a Red Mango in Korea and was so dang happy when I saw that one was coming to Orem before I left. There are a few Pinkberry's in the city so we like to stop in as much as we can!

We like to go out to dinner on the weekends so here are a few pictures of groups of us at dinner.

We've had a few office parties since we've been here, these are pictures of our cinco de mayo party. Layla and I made everything from scratch which I was pretty nervous about but everything turned out really good! It was a lot of fun!

New York

2008-07-16T17:47:00.006-06:00

I'm living in Hackensack, NJ right now which is only a few miles from NYC! I'm an office assistant for Platinum Protection, a security company. The job is kinda boring but I love it out here. Everyone here has become like family and NYC is one of the coolest places I've ever been! I love it out here! Since I've been here we have done a ton of fun things like:

Hard Rock Cafe on Time Square

Central Park

Pool Parties

That's just a glimps of what I've done since I've been here. I'll add more later!

My new blog

2008-07-16T16:23:00.000-06:00

So I wasn't going to have my own blog until I got married because it seems like that's when everyone else does it. But since I'm not married and I probably won't be anytime soon I decided what the heck, I might as well. Also my friend Layla told me that you can get your blog bound like a book so it's a good way to keep a journal!