Weekend Fun!

Though I didn´t spend my weekend eating lots of Turkey and early morning shopping, we did have a fun weekend! Friday night was the Azul y Blanco (Blue and White) Stake Dance for all the YM and YW. I recently got called as the 2nd counselour of YW in my ward, and Pablo is the 1st counselour of YM in the Stake, so we had plenty to do to get ready for the dance. Most of the day Friday was spent decorating and getting ready and then Friday night was the dance. Here´s a picture of three of my 4 Beehives (and the grand daughter of the YW President who is from a different ward) Here´s a picture of Pablo with the 2nd counselour from our Stake and the President and other counselours of the Stake YM Presidency--they are all single, RM´s if any of you are out there looking! (wink, wink!) Notice that they are all wearing the same blue ties--just following the theme I guess!

Here are a few pictures of our humble Thanksgiving Day feast if you will! Pablo and I made chicken and rice ( pretty common Chilean meal!) I didn´t know how to make rice like chileans do so I got online and typed in Google--how to cook rice. And guess what--I found a page with step by step instructions, WITH pictures! Nice! (Click HERE if you want to try it at home!)
And don´t forget our scrumpcious deseret of ALFAJORES! Not home made, but one of my absolute favorite treats here in Chile. Seriously, how do Americans survive without them?! They are chocolate dipped, cookie-ish, with manjar (kind of like carmel but way better!) My mouth waters looking at the picture!
I hope you all had great Thanksgiving/Black Friday weekends--though mine was a bit different then usual, it was still pretty great! Now, onward and upward with Christmas shopping and Holiday plans!

Gracias a tí, Podemos Seguir

I have a few other posts that I need to make but I really wanted to share this with all of you today so I decided to wait on the other posts and tell you about the Teletón. I know a lot of times I share crazy Chilean stories, but I seriously love Teletón! Basically since I got here to Santiago, all the news, etc. has been about the upcoming Teletón--it´s a national fundraiser if you will for kids with special needs to be able to receive the help that they need. The money that the raise during these 27 hours is all for kids who need help and can´t afford it.
The cool thing about Teletón is that during these 27 hours (it starts Friday night and ends Saturday night) all of the TV channels show only the Teletón, the banks stay open all night so that people can donate money, all the big companies do things to help motivate the people too. For example, for every Happy Meal that is purchased at McDonalds, they donate so much money, etc. It is really kind of fun to watch the entertainment durning the day but even cooler are the success stories that they show through the day.
The guy who started it all is named Don Franscisco. He was one of the first animators here in Chile and he actually lives in Miami most of the year. But he comes back to Chile every year to do the Teletón. It is amazing to see a man who has so much love for the kids--he spends a lot of the time crying when they share the stories and it is really touching. Here´s a link to a video of the last 30 years of Teletón.
I know this may not be very interesting, but I wanted to share a little bit of the good stuff here in Chile. Having a National Fundraiser is a lot of work and it´s amazing to see this country come together to get money for the kids who need it. If you want to check out a bit more about Teletón, click here!

Christmas is coming...

Feliz Navidad! I know that most of you are making plans to celebrate Thanksgiving, but here in Santiago I am anxiously awaiting Christmas! I´ve never really been a big fan of Thanksgiving anyway, so I don´t really feel like I am missing out on much!

The other day I was itching to get in the Christmas spirit so Pablo and I talked his mom into putting the tree up and decorated! So we put on some traditional Christmas tunes and started trimming the tree! Even though we were smothered in heat, it did make me feel a little Christmas spirit in my heart! Anyone else have their tree up yet?

(Typical Pablo picture...and the bracelet with `saints´on it isn´t his! Feliz Navidad!)

HSM3

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Pablito (little Pablo)

This little guy here is Pablito! My very creative boyfriend had to make a miniature, 3D paper toy of himself for one of his classes. FYI Pablo is studying Publicity with a minor in Creativity. He is on his last semester and finishes classes in January and then will turn in his Thesis and officially graduate sometime in March or April. He is kind of a perfectionist when it comes to these things and he worked really hard on his little guy here--right down to the marks on the jeans and the tee shirt that he is wearing is one that Pablo has. Even the hat is exactly like one of his! I just wanted to show up a little bit of his work. (Oh and by the way, he did get the highest grade in the class!)

Feliz Cumpleaños!

Happy birthday to ME! Last Thursday was my birthday (thanks to all the b-day wishes you all sent my way!) Thursday was kind of hectic and crazy because my boyfriend Pablo had to work on Thursday morning and I had to go to a trial job interview thing all afternoon. By the time we both got home Thursday night we were tired and just went to bed! Friday was a different story though! After sleeping in way too long, we finally got out the door and into the subway where Pablo refused to tell me where we were going. He is constantly surprising me with things like notes and little gifts so this isn´t something new for me. He ended up taking me to Cerro San Cristobal which is a big hill in Santiago where you can see almost the whole city! It was so sweet to be up there and see the city--we even got a peek at the temple from up there! We walked around the shops up there and went to a part where we could take a ride on these buggy-ski lift type rides to another part of the hill. It was so fun to just be with him and talk and enjoy one another. The whole time we were there he kept telling me that we had to be home at 8:30 because he had to do something for a teacher or something. I knew he was lying because he is a bad liar! When we got home, a few of our friends were here to share a birthday cake with us! It was a great way to end a good day and celebrate my birthday! I´m so lucky have such a great boyfriend who enjoys doing the same things that I do! Here are a few pictures of Santiago from up top and Pablo and I!

Marriage...is the reason we are gathered here today!

This last weekend I got to experience what weddings are like in Chile. If you thought that your wedding was hectic, just you wait! On Friday morning two of Pablo and I's friends got married and it was a day full of wedding stuff! Cristian Norambuena I met as a missionary and his family was always really good to me. And his now wife Stefanny is one of Pablo's very best friends. So it was cool to be there with them and share the day with our friends!
We started out the morning at the civil wedding. Here in Chile you have to get married lawfully before you can get married in the temple or in a church. Here is a picture of us outside the City Center where they got married.
After the civil wedding, we went back to Pablo's house to eat lunch and get ready to go to the temple. We were running a little late and ended up calling a taxi to take us to the temple. It was so neat to be there with them. When I was a missionary I got to work at the Temple Open House for the Santiago Temple and I grew to really love this temple. It is so simple and yet so beautiful. It was good to be back again and here the advice of the temple president, President Lyon as he sealed Cristian and Stefanny.
After the temple sealing we returned back to Pablo's house to get ready to go to the reception. It was supposed to start at 9 pm but we did not get there until a little after 10. But don't worry, the bride and groom didn't get there until almost 11. PM that is. The receptions here are a little more formal--you go dressed up, eat a fancy dinner and dance the night away! Around 1:30 am the couple cut the cake and then there was MORE dancing. Pablo and I danced the night away! My friend Cata taught me how to dance Cumbia so now I dance like a chileana! We finally decided to leave around 3 am--what a party! It was so much fun and I'm glad that we were able to spend the day with Cristian and Stefanny!