More and more like my Dad.

As I was reading one of my favorite blogs, she mentioned that she noticed that she’s a lot like her father.  Over the last few months, I’ve noticed how I too, have turned into my “father’s daughter.”  Sometimes, I don’t mind it….but then when I realize that it’s some of the traits I don’t particularly enjoy in him, that’s when I mind it the most. 

My Dad is a worrier. His top 2 worries for me, my sister and his grandchildren are always: 
-“Are they warm enough? Do they have a coat?” (Not a sweater, but always a coat! We live in San Diego, for crying out loud!)
-“Did they eat? We need to get them something to eat!”
He’s always concerned that I don’t eat or have anything to eat.  If he had his vision today, I think he could see that not having anything to eat is probably not my problem. In fact, I cook a lot of his meals, so it’s not like I couldn’t just cook myself something to eat.  He’s always pushing me to use his credit card to get something to eat, while I’m out, in case I get hungry.  I’m glad he cares.
So my Dad is a worrier, and he worries about everything under the sun.  I’ve come to notice that unfortunately, I’ve turned out the same way.  My poor Levi, who has to deal with a great amount of these worries.   I really do not like this side of myself, because it’s just unnecessary!! I’m TRYING to do better at worrying less, but sometimes (a lot of times), I fail.  I often chalk my Dad’s worrying up to being a “control issue”, til I realize that that could be my problem too….so then I try to think it’s because we care greatly for the welfare of loved ones.  Yep, that’s exactly what it is!  Maybe…probably….but we’re worriers, fortunately/unfortunately.

My Dad tends to hold grudges.  I like to think I don’t, but I know the truth; I do.  The same type of things that set him off, also set me off.  When something makes me upset, I can start to feel it across my face.  I have the very same mad look he does; the furled eyebrows, dead serious eyes and tight lips.  I wish I had more of a poker face, but I don’t--and he does (Why couldn’t I have that facial trait as well?!?) When my Dad was ever upset with a person or situation, he didn’t hide it.  He made it very clear.  I am the same way.  If he doesn’t like someone, he doesn’t put himself in a situation to be around that person.  Growing up, I thought that was odd, because I didn’t know him well enough.  Now that I’m older, I fully understand.  We both don’t tolerate excessive talking/noise, foul language, crude humor and ignorance.  Our patience level is a little lower than others in our family.  As he’s in his older age, I can tell when something’s ready to bother him because it’s already crossed my mind, as well.  Having something like this in common with him, has actually been a blessing because I always hope to put my Dad at ease, with everything and anything.  

There are good things that I do share with him.  Although we’re worriers, it comes with very good intentions.  We deeply love being around family.  They mean the world to us.  We would go to the ends of hell to keep them safe and protected.  When I was 12, laid up in bed, with a cast and Chicken Pox, my Dad would check up on me ALL the time.  I worried for him since he never had Chicken Pox before, but still he sat on my bed til I would fall asleep.  Every time I was sick, even til now, he makes sure I have everything I need.  Unfortunately, I’ve become very accustomed to this type of bedside manners---I know this won’t always be the case later in life :(  When others are sick, I’ve noticed that I tend to dote/smother them with any type of care I can offer.  I don’t like seeing them down and out, and not try to do something, anything.  
I learned service by watching and hearing stories of my Dad.  I haven’t yet perfected this, but I won’t stop trying.  This has been the greatest lesson my Dad ever taught me, especially since it was always by example.  LDS, didn’t just mean Latter-day Saint, he told me it meant, “Let’s do something”, “Let’s do service.”  Thanks Dad!

My Dad isn’t perfect, but I’ve come to realize that he’s the perfect father for me.  Sometimes I think he’s being hard headed, but I know it’s really just his tenacity……because I’m the same way.  

Facebook Pet Peeves

I’m not on Facebook ALL the time, but I do use it quite a bit for my position at church and to keep up with far away friends.  However, it’s started to become ANNOYING!  I’d delete the whole damn thing, but I like the ease of communicating with those friends.   Things I’m tired of reading/seeing on Facebook:

-One note Nancy’s:  PLEASE tell me that there’s more going on in your life than the same posts and pictures that you put on your Facebook.  If not, then I’m not sure I can talk to you in real life, cause your online life is very monotonous. 

-Child Milestones:  I think some of my parental friends need to layoff of Facebook and put that info/percentiles & pictures in a memory/scrapbook.  I’m glad you’re excited that your child finally got the hang of potty training (or in their words, "POOed and pee-peed on the potty"), but most of us don’t want to see the accompanying photos.  Seriously.  {I just hope that all those milestones are being recorded somewhere other than FB.  I understand that it's a big accomplishment....but sorry, my enthusiasm will never match yours}

-Daily “Selfies”:  I couldn’t be more grateful for the HIDE/UNSUBSCRIBE option!!  How vain do you really need to be to:
A) think we all want to see what you’re wearing or your make up choice every single day?
B) take a picture of yourself, every single day, and post it?

-Rants about your significant other:  If you’ve got a problem with him or her, go deal with it in PRIVATE or vent to a friend. Putting your significant other on blast makes YOU look lame and won’t get any sympathy from me. 

I’m sure I’ve probably annoyed one or a few of my Facebook friends with something I’ve posted.  I try not to.  My biggest pet peeve are the One Note Nancys.  I’ve tried my hardest not to post every little {and big} thing about my relationship with Levi.  It’s easy to do because I don’t want EVERYTHING out there.  Some things just don’t need to be shared.  Plus, I’m sure he doesn’t want a million FB notifications because of something I’ve tagged him in.  Besides,  I try to think of things from others’ perspective; Would I want to see and hear the same thing over and over and over and over??  No, I would get sick of it!  So I try not to shove every detail of my relationship with him down everyone’s throat.   I’ve already had a couple friends promise to punch me in the ovaries if I ever got that bad.  I hope I’m a long ways away from that, because I just realized that I didn’t make this pact with my weakest of friends.

Dang it.

Weekend recap: 3...maybe 4 things.

*My niece, Novee, just started her first season of Softball.  Seriously, and this might sound a lil biased, but she's REALLY good!!! She hits exceptionally well, catches the ball 95% of the time and her throws are spot on!!  I'm glad that she's as enthused about it, as much as we all are! I can't wait til her next game because it's just so much fun to watch her play!!  Maybe I'm a lil too enthused about it, because I can already see her playing for the Womens  National Team in the 2024 Olympics.  Calm down, Ehu....it's only her first season. 

*Man, I LOVE taking photos of and with this man....

 On Friday evening, we had dinner at Big Kahuna's in Imperial Beach.  This place is probably one of my top 5 favorite restaurants {the other 4 probably being pizza places}.  It has a good variety of burgers & Hawaiian plates.  LOVE IT!!!  Afterwards, we went to the drive in, which is always one of my favorite date spots!  I think they've upgraded the South Bay Drive-in because it's now digital and the quality is A LOT better than earlier this year.  We watched The Conjuring, which I actually liked, as far as suspenseful films go.  All in all, I had a great time with Levi on Friday & especially Sunday, he's the best part of my weekends! {Oh yeah, and thanks again for my laptop, Levi.  You're so good to me.}

*I’ve really started to enjoy my ward, lately.  I’m really grateful for the acquaintances who have become close friends…people I actually want to have a relationship with outside of church.  People that I like communicating with and who just “get me.”  It’s just such a nice feeling to have friendships grow.  I like that. A lot. 

*I like Maroon5, but man, their stuff lately has been OFF THE HOOK!!! I just want to listen to EVERYTHING they've put out lately!! Or at least in the last 3 years, since I've missed out on quite a bit of their music.  Man........ I LOVE IT!

Friday Night Dates!

I'm so glad that this man loves our Friday night dates, just as much as I do! 

Oh I love him so!

{by the way....I wonder if we could get away with me just taking our engagement photos. All my favorite photos with this man, have always been me holding the camera & taking our photo.} 

I'm not really serious.....but maybe...kinda sorta.

Disneyland....pt. 2

So I never quite finished the rest of the story from Disneyland & California Adventure....

All of it was near perfection!! I mean, the only real hiccup was that dang Radiator Springs ride never working! GRRR!!!  But all of it, every minute of it was just pure happiness!  I loved every second of having fun with my sweetheart!

• Mater's Junkyard Jamboree....BEST RIDE EVER!!!!

I loved Cars Land the most! Oh man, I seriously could have rode Junkyard Jamboree 10 more times....besides the 3-4 times that we already rode it! Seriously I LOVED it!!! It was just tons of fun!! I couldn't stop laughing, like belly aching laughing!!! I don't think I had ever laughed that hard!

We also loved Luigi's Flying Tires! In order to work the ride, they suggest that you "Lean Together."  I had a hard time that because I was taking photos and still laughing my head off!!  Poor Levi, he was so into it and there I was, like dead weight.....laughing hysterically!

I can't help it that I get as giddy as a 8 year old whenever I see Mickey....I mean, I want to nearly cry because I'm just that happy to see him  It's ridiculous........I'm ridiculous.
We ate at Carthay Circle, at California Adventure...oh man! DELICIOUS!!! Going to that restaurant was probably one of my top 3 favorite reasons to go back to California Adventure! 

The food was perfection!  The ambiance was exquisite! And I LOOOOOVED listening to instrumental versions of Disney songs. The restaurant just made me think that it would be exactly the type of place Walt Disney would have dined at. 

I just loved every moment with my Levi. I'm pretty sure I had a huge perma-grin the entire time!  Even if he didn't propose, I still had the time of my life....but his marriage proposal was the biggest cherry on top of the most perfect sundae.  Thank you Levi for such an AMAZING weekend, I'll always cherish it in my heart.

Just what I needed to hear.

Yesterday, out of the blue, I received an email from an ol' friend's mom;

Hi, Ehu!
You are so beautiful and so much fun! What a blessing you and your family have been in our lives and in the lives of our children! Thank you for your kind heartedness, faith, and ever cheerful disposition! You make the world a better place just by your presence!

Her email couldn't have come in at a more perfect time and day.  After feeling like I was ran over by a bus, it's nice to be reminded of the good qualities I do possess.  I will tuck this email away and read it on those rainy days when life gets a lil grey.  Thank you Sister Hodge.

What I want my children to know...

After yet another lively "conversation", with my Dad this morning, I started to ponder the things I hope my {future} children will know....


*I want them to know how special they are to Levi & I.  I want them to know that we consider ourselves the luckiest parents on earth, because we get to have front row seats to their extraordinary existence.  I want them to know that they'll always be able to talk to us, because we want to help them in whatever way possible.  We'll try to be their best friends, but first and foremost we'll always be their parents.

*I want them to know that home will always be a safe haven from the cruel and insensitive world.  "Homes are for free expression, not for good impression."   I want them to feel safe, and know that they are always welcome and wanted there.

*I want them to know who they are, why they're here and where they're going.  I want them to know that they are children of a loving Heavenly Father, who wants them to live righteous lives and return to Him.

*I want them to know to know their self worth, to grow up to become caring, sensitive, intelligent individuals.  I want them to know that they can achieve anything they set their mind & heart to.  And if they ever fall short, I want them to know that there's always a way back up. 

*Above all else, I want them to know how much they are loved.  I want them to thoroughly know it and believe it. I want them to know that I will love them from the second they're conceived, until well into the eternities.  I want them to know that love and affection will be given in high doses, even when they're teenagers who get embarrassed by their "uncool" parents.  I never want them to doubt how much their parents love them, because I will do my very best to show them love and understanding, most especially when they need it the most. 

AWESOMEST NEWS EVER....since my mish!

OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!

My sister just heard an announcement on Pandora that 

RITA'S WATER ICE 

is finally making its way to

SAN DIEGO!!!!!!

This is a MAJOR deal because all of my cherished mission memories, surround Italian Ice, especially Rita's! 

It's FINALLY touched down, here in San Diego and I couldn't be more pleased!!!!

Sundays @ 10pm

For the last month, whenever 10pm rolls around on Sunday nights, I get a lil nostalgic.  I can't help but think of this moment...

It makes me a lil mushy and sappy, but all the more grateful for this wonderful man. 
A few weeks ago, when some friends asked me to share the story of my engagement, I got a lil choked up.  It really did feel like time stood still for Levi and I, on that June 2nd evening.  It was just him and I, up there below Sleeping Beauty's castle.  Sometimes, I wish I could relive that moment, because it was so very special to me....that whole evening was.  I will forever be grateful for the pictures that we have from those moments.   
It just makes me wonder what our wedding day will be like.  I hope time stands still then, too. 

A Nine Month List.

Why Levi B. is my very best friend....

1. There's no one else I would rather spend my time with!
2. He remembers ALL the important things & all the things that matter most to me.
3. He shows his love in a myriad of ways!
4. I trust him wholeheartedly; with my life & my heart.
5. I always have the best of times with him!!!
6. He never judges me.
7. He is my truest confidant. 
8. I can be my crazy, random, lame, overly sentimental/emotional self and he NEVER makes me feel less than what I am. He listens to me ramble, waits patiently til I stop crying and is sensitive at just the right times.
9. If something's important to me, he makes it important to him, as well.  
10. He makes me laugh...and laughs at 99.9% of my jokes--that's a big deal to me. 

{Thank you for the spectacular 9 months, sweetheart!!  I look forward to so much more, with you! I love you!!}

I Need Thee Every Hour...

Yesterday, I found out that my friends' Dad's health isn't so great. In fact, it's pretty terrible and he's very sick.  My heart goes out to my friends' Dad, Ric because he use to be my stake president.  I sincerely love this man, and it makes me so sad that he's not doing so well.  I don't know all the details, and I've heard some things {not sure how accurate it is} which makes my heart hurt so much.  Ric was such a extraordinary stake president!  I LOVED to hear him teach, from the pulpit.  I could sit for hours and listen to him.   While he was stake president, I came to enjoy stake conference A LOT more because of his talks.  His stories were like parables and I always felt uplifted, afterwards.  His infectious smile was very welcoming and made me ever so glad to be in his presence.
Whenever he was at a church meeting, that I had to play the piano or organ at, I grew a lil more nervous.  His wife & daughter also play, so I knew the standard to which he was use to.  However, he would always come over, greet me and thank me for playing so well {which honestly, wasn't always so well}.  After he told me his favorite hymn, I'd make it a point to play, "I Need Thee Every Hour" during my preludes.  I've had a couple opportunities to be in his home and he was always such a gracious host.   It was always so nice, that in a big stake like mine, with 2500+ members,  he remembered my name and always greeted me so warmly.  About 3 years ago, when I shaved my head, he approached me and asked if he could rub my prickly head.  I chuckled at such a request, and instantly let him.  I love this man.
I hope that his current health improves because I don't know how I could ever imagine being in my home stake and not see his big, warm smile.  This Sunday, all of Chula Vista Stake will be praying and fasting on his behalf.  After all he's ever done for me and my family,  I will most certainly find myself in sincere and humble prayer.

My friend, Mr Red.

A couple months ago, Mr. Red and I had lunch in Coronado, during his last week in the military.  It was a very pleasant lunching experience and the food was quite enjoyable.  It was probably going to be the last time we'd see each other, before he left San Diego to go on a walkabout. 
So it's been a couple months since I've seen him and I think I waited to post this so I wouldn't be so emotional. I grew up with the luxury of never having to say good-bye to close friends.  I never moved, nor did my friends.  It was a beautiful comfort of life that I didn't fully appreciate until I became an adult.  Thankfully, the internet, skype and free long distance keeps those friendships alive. However, I still wish I could take all my dear loved ones and live on a island compound.  Creepy...but oh so convenient! :)
Mr. Red was one of my closest friends, for a season.  Never seeing my in-town best friend, meant having to confide life's curve balls in someone else....thank God for Mr. Red.  I truly have thanked my Heavenly Father for my very dear friend Mr. Red.  He's helped me have a bigger, brighter perspective to life, learning and religion.  He helped me ponder things a little deeper and expand my view of so many things.   
I miss my friend, A LOT.  I miss our walks around Imperial Beach.  I miss our talks about religion, books, movies, sex, tattoos, food, death, alcohol, family, meditation, friends....  I also miss just sitting in silence and pondering the ideas he'd throw at me.  All in all, I miss the comfort of having this friend, nearby.  Communication has been a lil limited since he left.  A couple weeks ago, I was so grateful to hear his voice as we talked about a lil dilemma I had. 
The best thing he brought to my life was to "let go".  With my over-worrying personality, it can get the best of me.  One night, after a family dinner and a spat with my oldest nephew, we walked & talked.  I needed to "let go", I couldn't control everything and that was consuming my mental & emotional state.  What it came down to, is that I had to remember that "Nothing's f*cked here."  I didn't need to stress and worry about every little thing, because 90% of the things we worry about won't happen.  That December night, on a neighborhood street corner, I needed to learn how to be "less involved."  I haven't perfected that yet, but I think it's definitely helped my blood pressure.  Life's a lot less stressful....I like it. 
Thankfully, as he's been on this walkabout, he's been keeping a blog.  I thoroughly enjoy reading it .  {I'd highly suggest you check it out!}  Who in the world walks city to city, with their dog, Odysseus, camping under the stars, meeting so many new & interesting people, making the most of life?
My friend, Pendleton.