Every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end

HEY! And so as easily as it begins, it ends... that's right, my California adventure of life is ending... my adventures are not ending, just this one in California. You see, I am a college graduate. And I studied home and family living. I came to California expecting a nanny job, and it has really been a personal assistant job, and that's really NOT what I want to be doing with my college education... at all... and I haven't been happy here so I made the decision to come home and try again. It was a pretty hard decision to make, but I was reminded of why I did it all the time in these last few days of finishing up. I was actually shocked at how quickly it ended-- I was expecting three more weeks or so... and it ended up being only 3 days that I was "needed" because they'll just be vacationing for the rest of the summer. I am happy to be going home. Even though I have no room in my house, I'm very happy! and I'll find a job that I enjoy doing! I am really excited for that! And to be with everyone I love! Yay for new beginnings.

I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello

So! I got to go home for the 4th of July! Which was probably about the best thing in the world for me to do! Pretty sure that the beginning of this week was a NIGHTMARE. My boss was just NOT happy (to say the least), which made it a really hard time for me. The family took a trip to Park City for the 4th of July though, which meant that I got to come home!

We flew in Wednesday and I got to spend some time with my old roommates that I love and miss and with Dustin! It was really nice to be HOME.

Thursday I got to go to the temple! Man have I missed it! The things you really miss when you leave Provo... It was so fantastic. Then I got to hang with my Lindsey, then take my daddy home from work, and then pick up Benjamin from BYU basketball camp and run him up to Park City with his family. Dustin came with me and we got to check out the sweet cabin that they have up there! Pretty sure it's like... 4 stories. And amazing. And they have massage chairs so Dustin and I got a little 15 minute massage of heaven. I liked it. Dustin and I left and went to Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (a Park City tradition for me!) and get some carmel apples. Then we got some dinner and came home!

Friday was the 4th of July! I went with my family to see Wall-E which I really liked. Afterwards we went to Maceys (another Utah thing I miss) and I got some apple beer (ANOTHER Utah thing I miss) to import back to California. We got the food ready for the BBQ and then everyone came over. I got to see my NEPHEW Dorian Russell Jack! He was born on Sunday June 29th and he is SO CUTE! I am a first time aunt and so excited about it! He kinda looks like a turtle with monkey like feet, but I love him. He's the cutest little baby. After BBQ we relaxed at my house (the boys played Nintendo) and then Dustin and I went over to his house. We played a couple games and then drove into Provo, got some BrickOven, and then watched the Stadium of Fire fireworks! Yay for fireworks! I love the sparkly ones!

Today I got to sleep in..... and... basically just chill. It was beautiful. Dustin and I went to Walmart and then IHOP.... and I packed up... and came back to California! So here I am now. BUT, this trip back home made it SO HARD to come back to California! I love being with my family, I love being with my friends, I love being with Dustin. I HATE saying goodbye. I just want to stay. I love my home in Utah! I cried when I drove back to the airport with my mom. I didn't want to come back to California. The only thing that really made me get on that private jet was knowing that I'll be back on Wednesday. Yes, only in 3 short days (or probably long), I'll be back home and my twin will be stepping off the plane from Japan as well. I'm so excited! I can last that long. But all the same... I HATE goodbyes. HATE goodnights... HATE that feeling.

This is my adorable nephew! I love him!

Just another day in paradise

Um, so I LOVE summer so far! Pretty sure, it's my favorite.

Today I got to go to work at 8:15, fix some breakfast, get the house all spruced up pretty, work on a couple projects, and make sure the girls were doing their work as well. They boys are at their high adventure camp so it's just me, Juliette, and Annabelle. It was fantastic! The girls were able to get their work done right after lunch which meant play time, which meant ... we got to go to the BEACH! The sun was out and the water temp was even nice for us. (sometimes it can be really cold...) It was a blast. Then we got to come home and take a dip in the pool before showering off. We fixed a nice little dinner and then did some dinner clean up, and then I got to get ready for Institute, which was awesome! We're studying the Pearl of Great Price and the creation was today. I love the earth. And the ocean. And the sky. And everything. It's all so beautiful! I had such a fun time with everyone there. I was invited to a So You Think You Can Dance party tomorrow night and I was asked out by two different boys for this weekend... :) One of the first weeks I was here, Shannon told me that none of her other nannies ever dated this much. It's great fun. After Institute I got to go eat at Freebirds with my friend Jon. They have MASSIVE burritos and quesadillas! We split a chicken quesadilla and it was super good but it was just so HUGE. Like, WAY HUGE.

So yeah, life in California can be beautiful. Yes, at times it can be stressful, but things really are going well. Now I just have to figure out if I should give myself bangs and more layers and dye my hair a dark auburn. I kinda like what the sun's doing to my hair out here though... the natural sun highlights are kinda cool.

That's What I'm Doing These Days

I wake up and dream drops, they fall down like rain.... JUST KIDDING. Just thought I'd stick with the song.

So... here's a little synopsis of today...

Got to work at 7:15 AM. Got breakfast, lunches made, the girls off to school... then we started going through some boxes in the garage... and by "the garage," I mean the second 3 car garage that is holding all their random possessions while they're rebuilding their house, not the 3 car garage that actually has half their cars in it. We had to make a space for the appliances (which are coming Friday) to fit it. Pretty sure there are a BILLION spiders in California! Pretty sure I saw two black widows today and was scared. Gross. After that, I was finally able to get ready for the day by putting on my makeup and eating some breakfast (an English muffin... not much of a breakfast if you ask me). I helped the boys (Peter- age 14 and Benjamin- age 13) go through some boxes. Then I went to pick up Juliette (age 6) from school (kindergarten). We (I) got to make some sandwiches to bring up to Shannon and her contractor and who ever else works with her all day for lunch. I left the kids there to play while I ran to Home Depot and Costco... and VONS. It was crazy. It was like 2 and I hadn't really had food all day so I was grateful to be at Costco to take advantage of their crazy cheap food prices. Yay for Costco. I went home and started making some stew for Steve (the father) and the boys to take for their little ranch trip they were leaving on. (They have a ranch in Bryce Utah). Then I went back to the elementary school to pick up Annabelle (age 10). Worked on the stew some more and got the girls off to swim team practice. Then I got to come home and FINISHED the stew and helped get the boys packed and ready to go. Then it was time to go get the girls from swim team, did a favor for Shannon and got her a drink, came home, finished packing the boys, sent them off... THEN I had to get some dinner for the girls! Shannon went back up to their other house (the one they're rebuilding) and so I ate dinner with the girls (grilled cheese sandwiches and leftover homemade tomato soup), cleaned up the kitchen, took the girls to Shannon at the other house, ran to Fresco's Cafe to pick up dinner for Shannon, dropped it off, and then I was off at 7:15 PM!

It was a busy day... but not too bad. I was happy enough. Only 3 more weeks and I'll be home for a whole week with NO work! Yay! Oh, I'm excited! And just about 2 weeks until I'll be able to see everyone for like a day for the 4th of July. Life is good. And So You Think You Can Dance is on in like 2 seconds and I actually get to watch it so I'm happy!

Happiness is finding a pencil

So... last weekend was really rough. I worked for basically 72 hours straight... and it was difficult. I started to feel sorry for myself and just miserable about everything. I was ready to quit, just come home and be with my friends and family where I could have a life again... and then talking with a friend made me frustrated as well. I couldn't take it anymore and so I had a good long conversation with my Heavenly Father where I (literally) cried out my heart to Him. The next morning was Sunday and it was.... BEAUTIFUL. Every lesson or talk in church was exactly what I needed to hear. Why was I so unhappy over the weekend? It was because I was only thinking of myself-- my poor sorry state-- the same thing I was getting frustrated about with the kids. It was a really humbling experience. I was able to be reminded about why I am in California in the first place and that I need to forget myself and go to work to really be happy. Yes, this job is demanding, but there can be happiness in it if I can remember to serve with an attitude of gratitude and love. This is where I can find my happiness and contentment. The days will still be long and hard, the kids might still pick on me, my boss still might lecture me, but I can be happy and put forth an extra effort to be even better! It made me really happy to realize these things once again. My happiness is not when I'm concerned about myself, but it's when I'm helping others and loving them! :)

Realizations

Sometimes I'll be driving down the road and I look at the palm trees and think to myself... "holy cow! you're in California! You really do live here!" and it just blows my mind! I still don't think I'm used to that fact and I don't know if I ever really will be. I've been here for a whole month now, even recieved two whole paychecks, and it's still crazy to me. The job has gotten easier as I've gone along... still a lot left to learn but I'm getting better and I think they're getting more used to me. I miss my home, family, and friends like crazy sometimes, but I just think about how I'll get to come home in just over a month and be there for a whole week. So while I'm here, I can work a lot and earn more money and SAVE my brains out.

Another realization I have is that the longer I'm away from home, the more I grow to love it. I appreciate the comforts that come and how fortunate I was to be able to live so close to home while I was at college! The more I'm away from everyone, the more I love them too. I thought that moving out here would make me forget about everyone as I made new friends and had new experiences, but I really just have grown fonder of everyone! It's crazy how that works but I'm still really glad about it.

California Dreaming

So... I graduated from BYU in Home and Family Living, right? And then the whole "get a job" part of life was there... and I had one... in California. So here I am now in Santa Barbara California working for the Sorensen family as their nanny. Most nanny jobs just play with kids, right? Mine is kinda different... my boss's name is Shannon. I'm her personal assistant and do her every bidding. It seems like I spend more time working with her errands than with the kids, but I guess it's okay. It's been hard, I can't lie. This is probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do! Sometimes I get super homesick and miss my friends, family, mountains, and my Dustin. I've never cried this much in my whole entire life, but then again, I never used to cry.

The first two weeks were incredibly rough. Shannon is gone all day working on their house that they're rebuilding so I didn't have anyone to really train me.... and her way of "training" is lecturing when you do something wrong... which happened a lot. When you're thrown into a completely new family and expected to do everything the way they do, it doesn't really work. I'd much rather be told what to do beforehand than being lectured on what I did wrong afterwards. Since then, it's gotten much better!

I'm adjusting well now and even being complemented when I do things well. Some days are better than others. It will still take more time to get into the swing of things and really understand how the family works, but I think I'm getting the hang of things.

Last weekend for Memorial Day weekend we got to go up to their Ranch in Bryce Utah and Dustin got to come down and spend the weekend with me. It was SO good to see him again and that as made this week a lot easier for me as well.

I know this is all pretty vague right now and I can tell you all more about the family and my job later but I have to run now. I actually have this afternoon off and I'm going to utilize it to check out the beach and do some downtown shopping! :) (I don't have much time off from work) But I will get back soon!