its a family thing

have i already written about how fun it is to be around family. don't get me wrong, there are definitely moments when family is overwhelming. but i do love looking at all the memories made at the end of the day.

ashley and logan were in town. and again...if i haven't said it already, but i seriously feel like they are my brother and sister. it is so funny reuniting with them. i think other family members thought we were crazy. but it is so true, it is as if we are siblings.

not to mention my own siblings, alex and drew. what a riot. sometimes i still feel out of place, being the only girl. but for a brief moment in a picture, we capture the moments of being brother and sister.

as a family, we went to the jazz game tonight. i love it! for a couple of hours, i forget i am even in utah, but i am just soaking up the pro sporting event (thanks lee's heating and air!).


family can really get the best of me sometimes, but other times i refelct and realize how much of them is in me!

family pre-christmas

lets just say it was a joyous reunion....

i walked in and next thing i knew, ashley was behind me! ashley, my cousin who i had lived with this summer, as well as logan and their parents, my aunt and uncle, were out to visit for christmas.

i have MISSED them! i love them to death. it is so funny cause i really consider them like my brother and sister! it was fun catching up on stuff. it was good to see my aunt and uncle too! oh i loved my time with them!

not to mention i got to see my other cousins, and their kids. we had a little rockband session, minus that actual rockband, it wouldn't work. so we just pretended with the kids.

the little kids probably thought i was just crazy! this brown, plump, girl, who's cousins with their mom and dad......crazy! i guess not far from the truth! but it was SO fun! oh how i love family, even if there may be some awkward moments.
this was so funny... you know the classic hold the camera out.. but the two boys in front, my cousin's kids, we'd count to three... and no matter what they were doing they'd run and pose for the picture. cousins after my own heart!

ps.....this picture reminds me... which one of these doesn't belong. haha!!

livin utah continues

i finally made it down to temple square. not going to lie, i've been waiting all month to make it down there. i don't know what it is, but i just love temple square. it makes me smile!

cade and lexi came down for a wedding, and so we ran over there to live a little of utah. we didn't do a carriage ride, so that is still on the list of things to do to live utah. but we did get to walk around, see a friend that was serving on temple square, not to mention we also got to talk to an argentine sister. we were all beside ourselves.

it was fun, for the first time since i have been home, i was hanging out with missionary friends...but when asked how we all knew each other, the first that came to my mind was that we were friends, not that we knew each other from the mission. i love it!

well here we are christmas!

its what makes us go

after weeks of being told by my boss that i needed new tires, we had a snow storm! i guess that is what i get for procrastinating!

i drove into work, and realized that i really needed to look into getting tires, cause that night there was another storm coming in. not to mention my boss and my manager both told me how bald my tires were!

i panicked and spent my lunch break getting quotes on tires. finally at the end of the night i (ie my parents) put a good amount down for tires. just to get back to orem, and pulling up to walmart when carrie shouts over the hood and tells me i have a flat tire....

A FLAT TIRE?????? i just spent several benjamins for a FLAT TIRE! oh... some one was going to hear it! the walmart tires guys were so patient and understanding to help me. believe it or not i was so calm when i actually had to go back into the place. my bark is way bigger than my bite!

so after going from place to place, my boss took my car in and let them have it. he told them that it was horse sh*** that they treated me they way they did. he got out of them some sort of warranty on my tires for free.

i think that i have to learn things the hard....needless to say i am a new tire owner. and after all the hassel, i can handle the snow!

christmas festival

i think the last time i went to the festival of trees was back when i played the violin! aka an eternity ago! haha.

it was so great! not going to lie it put me into a christmas mood! i loved it! i just wish i could decorate a tree like some of these.

the best part of it all....was that all of the proceeds were going to the children's hospital! i love that!

there were some cool trees...like the nightmare before christmas, also a broncos tree, a book of mormon tree, and not to mention a star wars tree that was worth over $10,000.

i guess you could count this as part of livin' utah! i just really love these things! its so wonderful! and i really hope that i can enjoy more of the christmas spirit!
oh i can't forget the guardian of the trees. i bet he felt so important. or he just thought the sunglasses made him invisible, cause he was so embarrassed that he couldn't get a real security job.

a weekend of smiles

to start of the week it was great....with thanksgiving. it was just nice to have a couple of days off. but after thanksgiving, it was quiet once again. so i decided to head up to idaho. it was the first time i'd been back to idaho since leaving it in 2007. not going to lie, i was excited to go back to spud land!

i met up with lexi....and we went and saw hollingsworth! it was SO good to see him. really that was the motive for the weekend, he got home! but i was able to lengthen my mini-vacation to idaho, and stop by driggs.

i experienced cutting down a christmas tree out in the mountians. it was so fun! i am a city girl, but it was fun!

then i went down to rexburg. wow it has stayed the same but changed. i went to applebees, which is a new addition, AND of course i was shown the local cupcake shop! i loved it! it was the first time i got to hang out with hrncirik....like for longer than a dinner or quick visit. it was so fun. i just laughed so much.

sunday morning we went to i.f......to go hear our hollingsworth speak. i was like being a zone conference all over again. with hrncirik and luker there, i just couldn't take the grin off my face! i was so happy to have another friend home. he bore his testimony in spanish, and it just all brought back memories.


as we went over to his house for the get together, we sat there just talking. it was so great. we chatted with out feeling guilty! i love being with those people that mean so much to me. i felt bad cause all we wanted to do was talk to hollingsworth, but mr. hollywood had a lot of friends there. but eventually we got our time out in the parking lot!


my cheeks hurt from all the laughing and smiling i did this week. it makes it a great weekend when you are surrounded by amazing people you love and care about!

it all begins.... its all about the experience

daniela and i decided that we were going to live up our time here in utah. sounds silly...but i think it is the greatest idea! (almost as good as discovering minnesota -- winter 2006 haha) so we are doing all the utah things!

we've gone out to the hot pots, and last week..before we said goodbye for the holidays...we went up and did a little of slc. it was so great! dan is such a pro at the utah thing, he guides us and lets us know what we should and shouldn't do.

we went to the joseph smith memorial building. it was so fun. for the first time ever, i went up to the top. we almost went to the roof...but ended up going to the garden. it was just so fun. daniela and dan are so great and are the greatest company.

i saw one of the best views of the temple form up top. it was beautiful with the sunset.

i love it.....i'm single, with no attachments. i AM going to live up every moment. and here it is....we begin the adventures and are creating those memories.

a bit belated...but not forgotten

i can't believe that it will be a month next week since i've been out here in utah. wow! but as i was going through my pictures, i remembered how great denver was.

i really enjoyed it there. it was hard, but an experience that i really needed in so many ways. i was able to get back into the work scene, while also living away from home, but still at home. i was SO grateful to finally be around family. i never realized how great it was. and to get to know of some of my cousins really well, so well that we really established a friendship.

denver is a place i'd go back to in a heartbeat. it is beautiful. i felt like i did a lot while i was there. yet there is so much more to do! i saw beautiful sunsets, a big snow storm, i discovered a love for photography, i found my cousins, and enjoyed every minute of it.

thank you to my aunt and uncle who put up with me, and my two cousins who really were like extended siblings; how i miss them and our sunday evenings. that always seemed to be out time!

a success of a night

a great night. it is always so nerve racking planning a 'party'. i never know who is going to come, or if anyone will come!

but last night was so amazing. i started taking pictures at the beginning, and failed to keep up with it till the end of the night, but i did get a few.

there were people from all avenues of my life. it was so great to see them all in one place. there were people i hadn't seen in such a long time...but that didn't effect our friendship or conversation.

from people who know me as an awkward junior high girl, so my cousin, to my old roommate, and of course the mission, they were all there!

reuniting is such a sweet feeling. i hope that this just rekindles the friendship...so that it continues to go on!


and not to mention, the food turned out great too!!

a hope

on my way into work, i have a lot of time to think. it is so nice and enjoyable. thinking about life, and what makes me happy. i have so many things to be grateful for, that is for sure! i am just so pleased with so many things in my life.

but i definitely think there are days when i get on one, and start thinking of the what ifs.... which leads me to the... what if i end up single...would i be happy, or what would make me happy? which then led to a reflection/conclusion.

making a difference.

that's it. i don't know how i am going to carry it out. but that is what i want to do with my life, that's how i gain happiness. making a difference in someone else's life. we go to work, school, or go on with our own personal life... and get caught up in that. but all i strive for is being able to make a difference, just in the smallest way.

i reflected on my life, and all the great opportunities i have had thus far. byu-idaho; service activities, the teton house, the argentine people. haha not much... but it was almost like the first bites of a good hamburger, i just want more!

what's next for me in order to achieve this hope....dream....goal of mine. not too sure, but i hope to figure it out soon! there are so many people who need another person! i hope i can be that other to at least one other person...

food, my specialty

now that i am on my own, i am reminded how much i really do enjoy cooking! if i want to eat, or if i want to eat something good, i am the one that is going to be responsible for that!

so today was a great example of how good food can be created! for lunch, we worked with what we had, and made hot dog sandwiches. an inspiration from weinerschnitzel.
i got a video of carrie taking the first bite out of our creation, and cause i can, i'm posting! haha

and then tonight, a great dinner. I MADE A BRISKET! you all should be very impressed with me! the picture may not do justice, but i was so impressed. i knew when i walked into the apartment after church, and the aroma wreaked of success!

don't doubt my skills. i love food! eating and preparing it. i think i did pretty well today! from one spectrum of the food preparation to the other.

livin utah

last week i had a bishop's interview. he essentially told me that i make what i want with my life and experiences. it is all my decision.

within in the last several months, i have really come to learn that. if i want to have an enjoyable experience, i am the only one that will make it happen!

tonight, we began our weekly 'livin utah', adventures. tonight we went up to the hot pots aka hot springs. i was expecting hot springs like lava springs in idaho, but got a totally different experience. i kept getting reactions from people whom i told i was going to go to the springs, that were interesting, almost like i was crazy to waste my time up there.

but to my surprise, it was so enjoyable it was hot! my legs still have red spots all over them. it was so relaxing and natural. really natural. but it was so fun, and beautiful! i did not see any streakers, there were a few other gentile practices happening, but we left before it got too bad!

on the way home, we did get pulled over for taking pictures. the cop that we had a strobe light going on in the car...as if we were having a dance party or something. we all smelt like sulfur, and i had some serious hat hair, but we made it home!

also today, we had the utah version of craigo's. it was so divine, and wonderful! what a great saturday!

falling into place

so i've been here for three days, and i really kinda came out on a limb. but things have really fell into place! i am so grateful for the blessings that have been given to me. life is good. i have friends surrounding me, a family that loves me and supports me, and sibilings who are always there and are two of my best friends, and i got a job today!

again, i feel like this is repetitive post, but i am so grateful and blessed with all that has been give to me. i really hope that i can some how some way give back.

i was reading one of my favorite blogs, and no i do not know this woman at all, but she is such an inspiration. her lastest post just really made me realize and remember how we are so blessed. we just need to really acknowledge it!

this IS it

i am guilty of attending this great movie. it wasn't really a movie, but a concert on dvd. haha. but as i sat there and watched it, i'm not going to lie, i was in awe of this man!

i do feel bad for him, because of whatever choices he made. but with that aside, he was a VERY talented man. amazing! he knew his music so well! he knew it back and forth.

in the movie, they of course played classic mj songs, like billie jean and thriller, but they also played songs that i wasn't familiar with, but still loved. also he sang a couple jackson 5 songs. so amazing, and i thought he wasn't going to sing it, but he DID, and he ended with it, man in the mirror.

sad life, amazing man. one who change the music history. you may not like him, but if you listen to music, you owe a lot to mj!

so profound

need i say more?

my bags are packed...

...i'm a ready to go....

well if you haven't sufficiently done your facebook stalking, i am moving to utah! and believe it or not, i am leaving tomorrow morning. i'll be living in utah tomorrow afternoon!

it has been a roller coaster of a month, but this is what it has all come down to! utah here i come! i finished work at wells yesterday, i said my goodbyes, and will have several more to say today.

i guess six months isn't that long, but it is amazing the realtionships/friendships that you establish. i think i realized that at work yesterday, saying goodbye to those people was such a bitter sweet.

so here i go, of to the next 'adventure' of my life. i had one person once tell me, you make it what you want it to be. even though there will be a lot of my friends in utah, i know that i'm going to make it be worthwhile. its a crazy move, but i hope a good one!!

an ethnic meal

i had a co worker invite me over for lunner (lunch/dinner). her and her husband are from india, and so they made some authentic indian food! it was delicious. it was fun cause i got to learn a lot about their culture, which was so fascinating. not to mention i ate tofu for the first time! it was great!

they do come back

you people come and go in your life. after going through college, and now a mission, i have really come to know a lot of people. each stage of my life, disney, rexburg, argentina, colorado, i am grateful i met the people i did. and really, i am even more blessed to have the people in my lives that i do!
with that said, most of my friends have moved on with their lives. they are married, have careers, and even some have kids. and yet it ceases to amaze me what amazing friends i have! this weekend, annie came out from boston (ok not to just see me, but for her husband's business), but we were able to meet up and catch up on the old times. oh the memories i have!
i have been able to keep in contact with those people that really mean to much to me in my life. all of my friends have made me who i am.
terra, one of my best friends, told me that i need to surround myself with thing/people that will make me happy, cause that is what will reflect towards others. and really i have SO much to be happy for. all my friends who have kept in touch with me, visited me, and those who wrote me!
high school friends, young women colleagues, college roommates, college friends, mission companions, and mission friends. i have AMAZING friends!

what a wonderful world

amongst all the things that are happening in life, i step back and remember what a wonderful world/life i have. i am so grateful for so many things. i know back when i started this blog, i said i was going to write what i am grateful for. oh man i have slacked! but i have so much to be thankful for!

beautiful days. great friends. phone calls in moments when they are so needed. a little inspiration. snow. family. great firesides. feelings of love, adequacy, and acceptance.

think about what you are grateful for today. post about it! (ps... i did take that picture, i am kinda proud of myself and how beautiful it turned out!)

my life IS a movie

well i guess we all have one of those days. well maybe not all. but today seriously was out of a movie, minus the incredibly good looking guy who complicates things, and then in the end is the love of your life.

so on my way out to church today, i thought i was on track, other than the fact that i was a bit of a girl..and just couldn't figure out what i wanted to wear. and then when i did, i couldn't find the right shirt to go with it. so finally, i was good and out the door. AND THEN.....

i am driving out of the subdivision, and i reach into my purse, to have my side zipper on my dress totally break. please see the above picture. a zipper should not be open on both sides! so i had to run home and go find a new outfit. ps... i am about 20 minutes late.

FINALLY i get to church, walk in and am sitting down. a little uncomfortable in the dress i was in, so i get up to go to the bathroom, and come to find out that i am walking with a limp.

so i look down and i realize that my heel has snapped in half! i thought that only happened in the movies! nope! it can happen to you too!

luckily i went out to my car after the block, and i had left a pair of shoes out there, so i was able to finish my meetings. good thing, cause they were great meetings!

when all is said and done, i only laugh and smile. life is so entertaining!

the last one is back

i can't believe how time FLIES!!! my last companion in the mission just made it home last weekend! and lucky for me, i was able to go up and see her (she only lives about an hour away).

at times it felt like we were just companions! it was so fun to be back with hna. gormley. it is funny that it definitely takes a while to get used to first names. i was also able to meet part of her family. it is amazing how much you know about your companion's families, without ever meeting them! haha.

so, just like old times we had a photo shoot! haha....welcome home gormley!

blast to the past

back in the day, my family did live in colorado. after living here for about 6 months, i made it back to the street i grew up on.

i was in the area, and so i called my mom to get the directions of where we used to live. it was so long ago, that i think my mom forgot how to get to our house. know she DID forget. she told me to keep looking for the grocery store... i couldn't find it, because come to find out, it was turned into a baptist church ( ps....it still looked like a grocery store!)

but eventually i made it! i found the street i lived on, and eventually i was driving down a street full of memories. the house where my friends lived, and i discovered scented play-dough, our crazy neighbors, and the fence that you had to enter into to get to the front door.

it is amazing where my family started, and where my dad and mom have taken us. believe you me, we did not have those nice of cars, when we lived there!

i guess it really allows one to see what your parents do to progress and provide for your family!

what it all came down to

after my mission, i had to almost start at the beginning again, at least that is kinda how i felt. however, i all worked out in a moments time. i was on my way to denver for an internship.

working with a non -profit, i learned a lot! i learned a lot during these last 6 months. the end point of the internship was our big charity event; grapes against wrath. it was a food and wine event, with some of denver's top chefs.

i worked a lot on our silent auction, where we had a good amount of items, with hopes to raise some good money.

well, last night, it all came together! i couldn't believe it. but here were at the event. everyone was a little on nerve, but it happened, and it was great! i really loved what i was doing. be able to talk to some people, and really just being good at my job! it was so satisfactory.

and really, at the end of the night, we raised a lot of money! i know it was me, nor was it my money, but to be a part of a great success, felt so good! not to mention i got to eat some high class food. you know the food you see the iron chef, or like those fancy food network shows make, yah that was totally what it was! oh, and i got to bring a piece of cake home! hello, i am still talise! haha.

its been a great experience, and last night was the night that i had my eyes on for the last 6 months, now its time to move on to the next stage......eek!

just in

when alex got home from his mission, we were finally together as a family for the first time in 2 years. it was so nice! so we ran off to go get family pictures done. hopefully we won't be added to the awkward family photos website.

we all have changed! some skinnier, some look older, longer hair as well as shorter. we have all grown up over the last two years. including our relationships between one another, not to mention the kids.

i love my brothers. we now have such a great line of communication. we are always keep tabs on one another, who's dating who, what happened during school, what's next in life, and not to mention a lot of support and advice is traded.

my parents raised three good kids, ( i am giving credit to myself, hopefully it is deserved). but here we are... we're back in town!

from mission to journey to vegas, all in a weekend

now looking back on things, this was a completely frivolous trip! but i did have a lot of fun, i felt like i had several things 'revealed' to me. not to say that i have a long ways to go on those 'revelations', but it was great.

during conference weekend, it seems like a lot of people come to utah and gather. as a result, i get to see a lot of my closest friends.

these are the days....

i am so so unsure of what is to come, especially in the next couple of weeks, but i long for those friends and those moment.

i got to go to my mission reunion, and then see analee, my freshman roommate who has become one of my closest friends (and we didnt' get any pictures), and then make a quick road trip to vegas with carrie and had one of my 'dreams come true''; we saw journey!

i really have so much to be grateful for. oh there are so many limitations in life, but i am so grateful for the opportunities and memories i have!

reunion round two

i can't believe that i have already been home for so long. some days i feel like a brand new return missionary. but i do have one thing to show for these last 6 months, some really great friends.

it is so amazing how close MAR really is, we were/are not only companions, but we are friends.

when you don't stop believing, things happen

i can officially cross off my from my list to do, go to a journey concert!

for the last two/three weeks i have been incorporating journey lyrics into my every day conversations!

i grew up on journey, and really have come to love it so much. to be able to see them in concert was a dream of mine! i lvoed every moment of it. plus i was amongst 'my people' too! i think it was a fillipino convention at the hotel, or maybe it was the fact that the lead singer was fillipino. what loyal people!

carrie came with me, and we rocked out! for the first part of the concert we got some really great seats!! (standing), but then even after that carrie worked her magic and squeezed us in right in front of our section. just in time for the two best songs, faithfully and don't stop believin'.

the vegas weather was beautiful, i couldn't listened for another hour, except i was dead tired after all that yelling! we got some videos, people all around us are singing, OF COURSE! but it was just so much fun!!