Forever

I've been wanting to post this for a while, but wasn't sure that I should. But, this little guy has changed my life, and I wanted to share a little bit of his story. You can find the whole thing on my friend's blog here.

Jonah Kent Young was born on July 8, 2010. He is one of the sweetest, cutest baby boys I have ever seen, and has the greatest parents the world could ever offer him. Although his life only lasted for a few short days, he has made an impact on so many people, including myself, that will be remembered for a life time.

Brooke and Ransom Young are some of our best friends. Daniel lived with Ransom for several years during college, and luckily Ransom married the cutest girl in the world, Brooke, who I am now blessed to call one of my good friends. They were nice enough to come and visit us here in California back in February. We went to Disneyland, the beach, and up to Pepperdine University to look at the law school for Ransom. Sadly, they won't be moving here to go to Pepperdine, but I'm happy to know that distance is nothing for our friendship with these two.

When I first heard about sweet little Jonah, my heart broke. Having lost someone very important to me in my life, I knew that there was nothing that I could say to comfort this little family. I immediately start thinking negatively when events like this happen (naturally), and I can honestly say that Brooke inspired me more and more each passing day. I thank her for her strength, hope, and testimony. When talking with my brother about this tragedy, I told him that I hoped to one day I would understand why the worst things happen to the best people. He sweetly reminded me that the Lord knows that only the best, strongest people are able to handle these situations. Brooke and Ransom, you are those people. You've inspired so many of us, and I admire your strength more than words could ever express.

I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have of this life. I'm so grateful to know without a doubt that we will see those we love again. I can't wait to be with my two oldest sisters, 3 of my grandparents, my best friend, and of course, sweet little Jonah. This life is only a short moment of what will be forever. What an amazing blessing that is.

To sweet little Jonah: Your uncle Daniel and myself can not wait to meet you one day. Thank you for blessing us with your sweet spirit, and for making a permanent impact on our lives. We will never forget you, and are so grateful that you held on long enough to let your mommy and daddy meet you, give you lots of kisses, and feel the joy of being parents for the first time. We will meet you soon:)

Grateful, but..

NOT grateful.

For those of you who aren't aware, a lot of us Mormon folk are ancestors of pioneers. This is because of the ridiculously horrible persecution the early members of the church faced while living back east. Because of this they walked thousands of miles to get away --and ended up in Utah. Yes I am aware that people other than Mormons are from that heritage, but it's a pretty big deal in our church. So big of a deal that in Utah there is a state Pioneer Day. Stores close, businesses shut down, and there are a lot of picnic get-togethers and sometimes even fireworks at night. 

Well, growing up in Texas, Pioneer Day was pretty much a made up holiday in my mind. The ward that I attended sometimes celebrated it, but whether or not I went to these celebrations was a different story. There's always the interesting women in the ward who dress up in bonnet's and long dresses and make homemade butter and bread to celebrate...yeah, I think it's weird too. Moving to California, I never thought that people would recognize/celebrate this made up holiday out here. To my surprise, they do. The biggest party of the year for Los Angeles LDS members takes place on the 24th of July. There is dinner and music and prizes and games for 3+ hours at our church building. About 500 people usually attend...and Daniel and I are in charge of it. THE. WHOLE. THING.

I like to think that I keep a pretty clean house. But right now, it's full of crap. Sorry..uhh celebration festivities. Canned beef and baked beans, barbeque sauce and cotton candy sugar, tablecloths and popcorn, and prizes. Lots of prizes. Thats what people show up for, right? Maybe it's just me.

We have had about 5 weeks to prepare for this, and a very tight budget. It's been what my life has been revolving around for the past 5 weeks, and I can't wait until Saturday to be over with. We've had quite the run around getting people to help us out, but I've gotta say that I am super grateful for my cute girlfriends who have helped me tons. I assigned 7 girls to make 4 lbs of macaroni and cheese for the event (count em..28 lbs of mac and cheese..sick). I gave them each the noodles and corresponding cheese for recipe. Most of the girls have already made it..and today my good friend points out to me (in the sweetest way) that I am dumb and cant convert measurements. While quadrupling the recipe I did not give out as much cheese as I should have. Yep. Awesome! Oh well. It's almost here and I have run out of will power to be a perfectionist. Bland mac and cheese it is..enjoy!

It's been a learning experience. Let's just say that I now have a HUGE appreciation for people who put together activities. It's not easy to find helpful volunteers, and I think I will be a little more willing to donate my time in the future. 

Pioneers--my hats off to you. I'm pretty sure that walking though 3 feet of snow in nothing but one dress and some homemade shoes would be a little more challenging than planning a party. This is why I was born in this generation. But still..we all have our trials!

We should be all set by Saturday afternoon. Thanks again to all who have contributed, you are helping me breathe a little easier! Shoutout to my awesome husband who's been the reins of this whole operation! I'm doing the food and prizes and decorations..he's got the rest! Bring on the food cotton candy, games, BINGO, and fun :)

Cruisin'

I was good at blogging for like a day back in April. or May. Can't remember. But ever since I have been so lazy. I've known for weeks and weeks that I needed to get caught up on blogging but there is so much to say that I don't even want to do it! But I will anyway :) June was a great month for us...basically because Daniel was off of school for like 2 weeks. My birthday was on the 13th! Daniel was nice enough to let me buy a few things on my own for our cruise, and he got me a Cricket for our anniversary in May, so that counted as my birthday present from him too (and probably Christmas, next birthday, etc. until we think its gotten its worth out of it :) We left on the afternoon of the 13th for Mexico. Checking in to board the ship was pretty funny. The workers were so excited that it was my 21st birthday and kept telling Daniel that he better load me up on some alcohol as soon as the ship set sail. We played along in their little game talking about how stoked we were that I could legally drink now. Ha. And drink I did! Those virgin pina coladas were craaaazy :)

The cruise was pure bliss. Not having to cook/prepare breakfast, lunch, or dinner for a week was heavenly. But that wasn't nearly my favorite part. I honestly can't pick a favorite. The beaches were beautiful. The first stop was Cabo. Cabo doesn't have a port big enough for the ship, so we dock the ship and take a little boat to shore. In Cabo we found a local to take us on a boat tour and take us snorkeling for like 40 bucks. About half the price of booking it on the ship! Here is cabo:

"Thrift shop" aka junk shop.

Love the water here!

Our next stop was Mazalan, Mexico. This place was fun, but a little ghetto/industrial. When the ship docked, it was near lots of cargo ships and warehouse looking buildings. This time we didn't have to take a boat to shore, but we did have to take a taxi if we wanted to go anywhere decently cool. The taxi was where this location got expensive. We took a taxi through old town Mazalan, which was cool but probably not worth the extra ten bucks. Oh well. We met a nice taxi driver and got dropped off at the beach on the other side of town. Once at the beach we were getting hounded by locals asking to take us para-sailing, snorkeling, etc. We decided to go with one who took us across the way on a sail boat to a private island in the distance. It was 30 bucks to go to the island, go snorkeling, and have him come back and get us 2 hours later. Not gonna lie--for 30 bucks we were a little nervous that our boat man wouldn't come back and get us..but we were in Mexico! Live it up! (and cross your fingers) Here is Mazalan:

The sweet sail boat that took us out to the island. SO small!

The view from our private island of the city.

The taxi:)

Our last stop was in Puerto Vallarta. This was our favorite of all the places. Arriving we weren't too impressed, but we got off the ship, found a local and decided to go zip lining through the jungle. Best decision/exploration of the trip! It was SO much fun. A little more expensive than we would have liked, but worth it. We drove in this big Indiana Jones looking truck up to the mountains and joined our group and guide. We hiked up the mountain a little ways and got to do around 10 ziplines through trees and waterfalls in the middle of the jungle. We loved it! If you ever do this cruise, this is a must! We couldn't take our cameras on the zipline, but heres a few pictures of before we went and where we ended up at.

Doctor Dan:)

We loved Puerto. I would love to just go on vacation there.

For the rest of the cruise, we layed on deck, played put put, went to ice skating shows, comedy shows, and ate, ate, ate. I thought it would be weird to go to dinner and walk away without paying...it was weird for about 2 seconds, then it was simply awesome:)

When we got back we went up to Big Bear with our friends Jason and Katie. We only spent a day up there, but it was beautiful and nice to know that mountains and lakes and small towns are so close to us. The rest of the break was spent back in Los Angeles for a few days, then Daniel had to go to Washington D.C. for the remainder of the break for a research scholarship that he got. It was a great break! The next weekend was spent in Utah. But that's another post:)

Love my husband, love vacations, and love my life!