I Heart Chile!

It's true. I love Chile so much for many different reasons. I mean, just look at how beautiful Santiago is! The people are so amazing, the barbeque's are the best in the world and you can go from the city to the beach in just an hour and half! I love the micros (crazy public buses) and the clean subway, the tiny shops and the homemade stuff. There is always something to do and the city is full of great adventure. And let's not forget that right now it is summer in Chile! Even better!
I am so excited to leave on Monday to go spend time with all of my friends and loved ones. Christmas Eve will be kind of boring, sleeping on a plane all by myself, but Christmas morning will be well worth the LONG flight! Some of you may think I'm a little crazy for leaving here and going down to Chile for so long, but click here to see some of the other reasons why I love Chile so much!

I hope you all have a VERY Feliz Navidad and enjoy the time that you can be with family and friends. I love you all so much and I'm grateful to have such a great family and friend support here too! Que esten super bien!

Singing Loud For All to Hear...

One of my favorite things about Christmas is the MUSIC! This year I discovered finetune.com which lets you pick out the music that you want to hear and create your own play list. How amazing is that? So I spent a good amount of time at work trying to find some of my favorite holiday tunes to listen to and share on my blog. (Check out the Finetune player on the left hand side!) It's amazing how music can bring back different memories and how I never can seem to have just one favorite song. There are 47 on the play list--so sit back and relax while you listen. And don't forget the hot cocoa either!

Spreading Christmas Cheer

Last Christmas I decided to try and be crafty by making a wreath. I got so many compliments on it and people thought I was quite domestic. (I'm not really...) So this year I pulled it out again and put in on the door. It's amazing how easily impressed people are by just a $2 plastic green wreath and few decorations. But it does improve the look of our door dramatically, that's for sure. I hope you are all having fun decorating and spreading your own Christmas cheer!

FELIZ NAVIDAD

I love getting in the Holiday Season--the non-stop Christmas music has already started and the classic Christmas movies are taking priority in my life. It is plenty cold outside and I am not complaining about the lack of snow. One of my co-workers and I were talking about how Christmas is all about the season--it's the shopping and the gift buying, the music, the goodies, the kind acts of service and the feeling you get when you sing a Christmas hymn. That's what Christmas is--it's not just the 25th of December.
The countdown is on (24 DAYS!) and soon I will be in warm Chile celebrating Christmas Day with the people I love. For those of you who would like to see a bit more of my Christmas preparations, check out Eduardo and I dancing--click here and enjoy!

whalehookloans.com

It's official. I am a published author. Okay, it's really not that exciting at all. My boss at Prosper, Inc. has a little side business website and he has hired me (along with a few other people) to write financial articles for his websites. Last week was my first week and I must say that it was more stressful than I thought. For starters, I know little to nothing when it comes to finances (just ask my older brother Alan!) And these articles are far from being creative, exciting or masterpieces of literature. They are pretty boring and plain. But they serve their purpose and I get a nice little extra paycheck every Monday so I have no complaints! If any of you want to check out some of the articles I wrote last week, click here and read the first, third and fourth articles on the page. But don't judge me on the writing!! Most of them were done at 2 am! And remember, if you have any questions regarding your own finances, direct them to my brother, not me!

Dog Sitting 101

This last week while my boss and her husband went to sunny Orlando, FL, I got the opportunity to dog sit for them. My boss has no children and so as you can then assume, her two dogs, Dasher and Rudy are like her children. They are SPOILED! They treat them like children so you can imagine how I had to treat them also. These dogs have certain routines they are used to and one of them is sleeping in the same bed as my boss and her hubby. So, I slept with them. If you can call it that. It was more like me laying in bed, yelling at the dogs to stop fighting, stop barking, stop walking all over me, etc. all night long.
We were all getting pretty sick of each other by the end of the week. I know they were missing mom and dad and I just wasn't giving them the TLC they were used to. Finally on Friday morning, I had just about had enough. I was running late for class and was trying to get the dogs to come into the kitchen so I could close the gate and leave them there while I was at class and work. Dasher was not wanting to be left alone all day long and he was not listening to me. He sat on the couch in the living room and glared at me. As I approached him to grab and and drag him into the kitchen, he dashed off and ran up the stairs and all over. I told him I didn't have time for games and he just ran faster. So, I finally called out to him that we could go outside and he got excited. But, it was a LIE! I lied to him. He ran down the stairs and as he was wagging his little tail, waiting to go outside I grabbed him and carried him into the kitchen. I know. I would go as low as lying to a dog to get what I want. Unfortunately, I don't think that Dasher has much confidence in me anymore.

Tagging?

I guess if I am a TRUE blogger I must participate in the tagging ceremony, right? Hopefully I don't bore you all!

Interesting Fact #1- I love the font Arial. I HATE reading things that are in Times New Roman or other fonts with serif. It's really weird, I know, but ever since I took Caryn Esplin's Visual Media class, I do NOT like serif fonts.

Interesting Fact #2- My favorite vacation so far has been my trip to Palmyra, New York City and DC with Tim, Alan, Amber and Jackson. We had such a great time and I fell in LOVE with NYC. It was really cool to spend adult time with my siblings and see some awesome sights.

Interesting Fact #3- I brush with Arm and Hammer Baking Soda and Peroxide. Nothing leaves my teeth cleaner!!

Interesting Fact #4- I really like argyle. It's my favorite thing to wear. I even have checks with argyle on it. It's true. I love it!

Interesting Fact #5- I just want to be a Mom. That's all. My nephews are the best thing that has ever happened to me and I love them all so much. It's so amazing the love that you can feel for these little people in your life. I can't wait to feel that love for my own children some day.

Interesting Fact #6- I will be graduating with my Bachelor's degree when I am 25. Yup. Possibly the oldest person to do it. If I break some kind of a record, do I get a cut in my student loans?!

Interesting Fact #7- I have had over 50 roommates and that is not including the 20 girls I lived with in Ecuador or my 12 mission companions. Now if I could just settle down and have ONE roommate...

I wish that I could tag seven people but I am pretty sure that 7 people don't read my blog and those that do, have already been tagged before. So, consider yourselves lucky!

Rexburg, Idaho...America's Family Community

This morning I attended Stake Conference--surprisingly I have spent 3 of my 5 years in Rexburg in the same stake. I love being here and yet at the same time, I am very ready to be done with this little town. One of my companions told me that just as you start to get comfortable in life, things change. Today I felt comfortable. Very comfortable. With the same stake presidency, the red hard chairs in the Hart, and seeing plenty of familiar faces--I was feeling ready for a change. Hopefully it comes sooner rather than later.

Susie Homemaker

Last winter one of my roommates took a Home Decor sewing class and after seeing all her fun projects, I thought I would give it a shot too! This is my second project, a decorative pillow for the couch I will someday own. It was actually a bit more complicated than it looks (it has an invisible zipper!) and I think it will look better on a black couch than my bed, but for the photo shoot, I just had to make do! So far it has been a fun class and a good learning experience but we will see if I still say that after I get my quilt done!

What's all the fuss about blogs?!

The idea of blogs has always seemed a bit selfish to me--why don't I just stand on my roof and yell, "Hey, everyone, pay attention to me!" But as I have seriously contemplated getting my own blog, I began to do research. When I say research, I mean I just looked a bunch of different blogs and I realized that blogs are not selfish. They are actually a great way to share with the people you love. So, on that note, let me help keep you all updated by sharing pieces of me with you.