Free books? YES PLEASE!!

This has become my favorite spot in my house.   Lately, it's become the focal point of my room.  Before, my bookshelf use to just hold my books, but now it's become the center of my universe. I just love this corner because of how colorful and alive it feels.  These aren't all of my books, I've got books under my bed and in a box in the trunk of my car.
I've been spending a lot of time at my secret book spot and scoring some sweet finds!  Yesterday I scored the sweetest "find" possible!
Right after my mission, I worked in the office at Deseret Industries.  There was a gentleman that came in about 2-3 times a day for books.  He was always friendly with me.  I would entertain his humor and laugh at his lil jokes.  In talking with him, I came to find out that he did book reviews for Deseret Book.  Once he offered me a possible book review job. I turned it down since I was soon leaving for school out of state.  The funny thing about it, he wasn't Mormon.  However, he had a respect for the LDS church, being Jewish.
Over the years, I'd randomly see him around town.  We remembered each others' names and would exchange pleasantries with one another.  Yesterday, as I was eating lunch with my best friend, he happened to approach us and soon joined our table for a few minutes. We talked about the DI, Utah and books.  I expressed my rediscovered love of books & my secret book spots in town.   He told me that he had somewhere much better than all those places combined--his personal collection.  He said that he's been giving all my secret spots hundreds of books from his collection.  He hasn't been able to do so lately because of his failing health.  He gave me his card and said to put a list together of all the books I'm looking for. (He even offered for me to just come over and go through all his books...all of which I could have for free!!) I told him I was looking for a lot of the classics (Les Miserables, Anna Karenina, The Odyssey, Iliad), he said that he had them all.  Also, if I happen to be looking for church books, he had those as well.  Now I remember him telling me how Deseret Book use to send him books for him to read and review, so he read through them once and just kept them (or later donated them).
HELL FRIGGIN YEAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!
It was like a ginormous Christmas gift!!  I AM SO FRIGGIN STOKED!!! TOTALLY HOOKED UP!!!
Oh I cannot wait!!  My mind has been racing since our chance meeting!
What do I want??
Walt Whitman... Edgar Allan Poe... Leo Tolstoy....Robert Browning....Jane Austen....EVERYTHING!!
YES, PLEASE!!!

BEST friends day!!

I feel like today has been "Best Friends" day! Just what I needed!  

I got to text back & forth with my best friend StephyPooh.  She's a busy wife & mama of 2 adorable little girls, so I cherish anytime we get to communicate.  She had me laughing out loud! I treasure our friendship so much.  She means the world to me and I wish wholeheartedly that we could live closer to each other.  She was my favorite missionary companion.  She has a heart of gold!  We were texting about how crazy life is and we brought up mission memories....like the time we were caught in a rainstorm without any jackets or umbrellas.  Or the time I slipped in a rain puddle and landed on my backside, in mud.  Oh such fun times! The time I served with her, was my fondest time on the mission.  In short, I miss her terribly.

My oldest best friend Liz, who grew up across the street from me, had the day off so she called me up.  She ended up coming over and we caught up with each other. We haven't talked or hung out lately, so the time together was very welcomed .  It was just wonderful having quality time with her.  It felt like the good ol' days of just kickin' it together.  We talked about our families, jobs, school, dating & life, in general. I didn't realize I missed her that much.  It was such a delightful afternoon!  I really miss living across the street from her. 
Lastly, I got to hang out with my best friend Bugs tonight. We walked around Old Town and visited the shops.  We looked at a lot of Dia de los Muertos stuff.  It was just a relaxing evening, spent amongst the Mexican culture.  As always, we had great  conversations about everything. I love talking with Bugs, I never feel judged.  She probably knows me the best out of everyone in my life.  Even though we just spent this past Monday together, all day, we still find so much to laugh and talk about. 


After some crazy events this week, I couldn't be more grateful to have spent the day with my very best friends. I LOVE the quality time I get to spend with them. They all have a very generous heart and are very giving.  I always hope that I am reciprocal in my friendship with them.  I am thankful to have them all in my life. I have been blessed (and spoiled) with the BESTEST best friends a girl could ever ask for!!  My cup runneth over ♥♥♥

Facebook, thank you for informing me about my family.

Today I'm pissed, hurt, sad and in disbelief.  
My once cherished relationship with my nephew Kea is gone. 
I woke up this morning to a picture of his girlfriend's left hand showing off her nail polish....and ring. 
Then I scrolled down to see that she's engaged.  To my nephew.

I hate this.  I. HATE. IT.!!!
I always told him that if anything or anyone stood in the way of his mission, I would hate it/them.  

I called him out about it on Facebook. I know, I know...that's not extremely mature.  But I figured "Hey! If this is how I'm going to find out, then this is how I'm going to respond."  
Then it ended up in a texting war, while I was out to Costco with my other nephew.  I was shaking because I was so livid.  I'm hardly ever this mad.  But I wasn't just mad, I was hurt. I'm hurt that our relationship has dwindled down to nothing, because he likes to communicate with me only if he needs something.
I'm hurt that I didn't find out from him, but from a photo on his fiancee's page. I'm hurt that he didn't tell me.  
And today that hurts me to my very core.  

Norah Jones & Mint Tea

Today's a rather good day for tea. I don't normally drink "hot drinks", but the weather has been calling for it.   Mint tea coupled with some Norah Jones makes for a very lovely afternoon.

Today is my best friend's birthday....

We haven't hung out much since we moved in December.  It hurts my heart because I loved having her right across the street.  We were neighbors since we were born 31 years ago.  It's always been fun having her so close.  I surely miss her.  I think I'll have to give her a call here soon, today. 

I came across this today.  Made me think a lot about what my sign would say if I had to wear one.  I'll post my sign sometime soon. 

Yesterday, I spent the day up in Los Angeles with my BFF, Bugs.  We stopped by the Santa Monica pier before we hit the freeway.  It was a VERY pleasant day. I love my BFF!! We're the best of friends and she knows all my secrets.  We had the radio off the whole time and just talked.  I love good conversations!

My Artsy friend invited me over to decorate Dia de los Muertos sugar skulls.  I took my niece with me and it was really fun! I think I rather do that than carve pumpkins, for sure!!

I'm really excited for this Halloween season because I'm looking forward to more Dia de los Muertos celebrating.  Can I say "celebrating"? Well, whatever the appropriate word is, I'm stoked for it. I just love all of that Mexican folk art!!

And isn't it ironic... don't you think.

Well,  I was late to my first Sunday at my new ward (church congregation). They moved to a new building this year and it looks NOTHING like a typical LDS chapel.  I sat out in the foyer during the rest of Sacrament meeting.  Afterwards, I kinda watched some Relief Society women just walk on by.  It made my heart sink and then think back to my Relief Society sisters, my dear friends, and hoped they never let a newcomer just sit alone by herself.  Luckily, "Sonny", a [good lookin'] Samoan friend of a friend remembered me and showed me around.  Sonny's very pleasant and it was nice to have someone finally say hi.  I sat by myself in Gospel Doctrine class. I thought it was pretty ironic that the scripture we discussed in class came from Ephesians:
Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
I couldn't help but chuckle to myself.... This was so totally me! The teacher asked the class if this related to anyone.  One person raised their hand but their example wasn't too stellar.  So I raised my hand because it totally described my feelings that day.  Part of my heart was left back at my old ward and I was trying desperately to make myself feel comfortable at this new ward.  

In the end, I ended up meeting more EQ guys than RS women.  Some of them weren't all too friendly.  The guys were nice but they weren't my ol' familiar guy friends from the ward, I meant, my old ward. 

*sigh*

This experience left me thinking about my mission.  It was like being transferred from a beloved area full of my favorite people to a new area of strangers that I've yet to know & love.  I remember that happening when I left Medford, my first mission area. I cried on the way back to the apartment that last night. I was going to miss all those members & friends who took me in and loved me so!  Once I acclimated myself to Bordentown, I missed Medford less and less and loved Bordentown more and MORE!  I didn't completely forget about Medford, it would always have a special place in my heart. New friends that I made didn't replace all those magnificent friends from my first area, they were just more people for me to love and vice versa. So as much as I will love and miss CVYSA, it's time to move on and make new friends and memories.  

What tomorrow brings....

I'll be attending a new ward tomorrow.
I'm not gonna lie, I'm nervous and sad, but also excited and anxious.  I guess I'm just a bundle of emotions. I'm sad because I won't have all my friends there. I won't be greeted with hugs and smiles as I always am when I attend church. Familiar faces will be replaced by strangers (aka: new friends yet to be made).  My heart isn't exactly happy but it's trying to be.  It's a new experience. I don't do so well with those sometimes.  Oh well...

I just hope this won't be me, all day at church:

I hope I make a friend. 

(wow, that sounds sad....but it's the truth. sigh.)

...and in the end....

I did get to spend my Thursday with comfortable friends and especially one in particular.  I'm really glad. 

My recital went well. I was first up to bat and man, that made me more nervous. I wasn't necessarily nervous, but I wasn't completely comfortable.  For those with vocal pieces, we didn't get a mic to use. Hermana R said that "real singers don't use a mic".  Wow. I feel like a real singer now. My only qualm about the recital is that the very spot of the music stand must have been about 50 degrees hotter! Seriously, I haven't sweated that much since being on an elliptical!  I think every pore must have been sweating! It was hotter than Hades! Afterwards I told my music teacher and she said that it's common for a performer's body temperature to go up. I just didn't expect it to go up that much.  In the end, I did well and I was happy with my performance. I'm glad I had a friendly face to concentrate on and would smile back at me. It made a big difference. 

I went by my church last night...  Mr. Red had a meeting and I also wanted see my friends.  Can I just say, I love walking and talking with Mr. Red! Seriously, it's one of my top 5 favorite things to do.  I love the fresh air combined with our conversations about everything.  I couldn't be more grateful to have him in my life.  

Tonight I get to see my dear friend, Nash. I'm really glad and can't wait! Also because I get to see BabyChleo! Oh I love that baby SO VERY VERY VERY MUCH!!!! As excited as I am to see Nash & Hubby, my dear, close friends..... I'm actually more ecstatic to see BabyChleo!  I sometimes wonder why I love that baby so much.  Some may think I'm baby hungry and feel the need to have children---maybe.  But what it comes down to, I knew Nash & Hubby when they were just dating.  Then I was there when they were married and it was a beautiful ceremony. Nash was radiant and Hubby couldn't be anymore happier.  When Nash found out she was pregnant, I was amongst the first she told.  Every Sunday we would sit together in Sunday School and I would rub her belly. So in essence, I love BabyChleo so much because I loved her from the very beginning, because I love her parents.  They mean so much to me. ♥