Almost 2 weeks now....

So it has been almost 2 weeks since I moved and here is what I learned so far.....

1. Dry heat is really not so bad. I don't mind at all when it is still 80 degrees at 10pm at night.
2. Las Vegas drivers like to drive below the speed limit and it is really annoying.
3. Construction in Vegas doesn't make sense, their road signs and temporary lanes confuse me.
4. I love that I can text and talk on my phone again! Sorry Californians!!!
5. My job is amazing and I am having more of a Latino cultural immersion than ever before in my life...I just might end up bilingual!
6. It is actually really beautiful here with mountains surrounding the valley, sunsets are really pretty.
7. Lots of people from Southern California live here...very interesting.... probably because it is way cheaper!
8. Bunny rabbits are all over the place and if you don't look out, you just might run over one, already had that experience! Don't worry, I was over it in like 5 seconds, but my roommate sure freaked out, and I was the one driving!
9. People drive drunk alllllllll the time, really have to be alert 24/7 while driving here...maybe that is why so many drive so slow.
10. It's great and I love it!!

Moving to Vegas

It's official!!! Saturday, September 12th I will be moving and starting my new life in Las Vegas. I am excited and sad all at the same time. I can't wait to begin work yet will miss my SoCal lifestyle very much!!! Especially all the wonderful people I have come to know and love here. Thank goodness, California is only 3 1/2 hours away. I am sure I will make lots of trips home.
Here are some pictures of the house I will be moving into. 2 wonderful LDS girls live there and I am excited to get to know them! Here is my new address: 11695 Giles St., Las Vegas, NV 89183

My favorite Hike!!

Last summer I discovered this hike with some friends and we went about 5 times. This summer I am sad to admit I have only been once. However, summer is not over!!! The hike is not monitored by the government, so only locals know about it (that's why there is so much graffiti). It is up in Rancho Cucamongo just past Mount Baldy. It is serious the funnest hike ever. You get to climb up 2 waterfalls using ropes (not an easy task) and then slide down 2 natural made waterslides. Oh, and jump off cliffs into pools of water. Not to mention the beauty of the surroundings, besides the graffiti. It is seriously the best hike ever, and everyone I take, loves it and can't wait to go again!!!

My friend Mike and I at the top of the 2nd waterfall. You have to jump into the pool below to get down. So fun.

Mike jumping off a big rock into the water, doing some cool tricks!

Hiking up the river with Dan, he loved it!

On our way down the river, the water is so cold, you can't stay too long, if there is no sunshine, you freeze!

This weird cement structure was on the way up the river, we had fun playing in it and trying to figure out what it was for, never did figure it out.

Muscle woman!!! Takes a lot of upper body strength, and this was the easy one to climb.

I am standing at the top of the natural waterslide that none of the boys would go down unless I did it first, they were all a bunch of babies.

We are all standing at the top of the first waterfall. I was the only girl that made it up. Some girls were just not too adventurous and didn't even want to try.

Oh yeah, jumping off rocks into the water, so fun! But freeeeezing!!!

My dream job has come....almost!

This job in Vegas is like a dream. This woman that graduated from Long Beach like me started her own for-profit and non-profit organization providing mental health services for children, youth and families. It has only been around for about 4 years but it just keeps growing. They need me to help provide counseling services. They do everything, prevention, education, early childhood intervention, after school intervention, neuro-bio feedback (instead of just doping kids on drugs, they only use meds as a last resort), leadership programs, parenting programs, I mean they have it all!!! If I was to start a company I would want it to be just like this one. The owner is so laid back and flexible and even brought her 2 daughters to the interview, it was just amazing!!! I am so excited. She needs to go over some financial stuff, (but my salary interest was definitely within range) and then officially offer me the job in a week or so. She is an approved and registered supervisor so I can get my clinical license which is amazing!!!! She even wants to expand to Southern California one day and asked if I would be interested in returning to SoCal when that happens!!!

This is such a blessing and such a perfect fit. I can't wait until it's official!!! Vegas here I come!!!!

Summer Fun!

So it has been a lot of fun NOT having a job, because I can go and do things whenever I want. So, even though I would rather be earning some money, I have enjoyed my unemployment. Something has to come soon though, otherwise I might lose my mind...I need to be productive and I have been trying to be creative with that. I even volunteered to start an Adopt-A-Grandparent program for our stake! Anyway, here are some pics of the fun I have been having with family and friends.

We spent the weekend in San Diego with the family, here is my brother Ryan and his girlfriend Taryn with our nephew Jacob.

While in San Diego we toured the huge USS Midway aircraft carrier ship that is now a museum. It was pretty cool but after about 2 hours, all us girls were ready to go and left the men there.

Our main reason for going down to San Diego was for this awesome DaVinci exhibit that made replicas of over 60 of DaVinci's ideas and inventions. It was really cool to see it all. But of course, my favorite part was the hall of art, I love learning about art and the history of the artists.

On the Midway Ship we got to sit in pilot seats and my niece tried to put the seatbelt on her but didn't succeed very well, don't worry she didn't choke.

There is the USS Midway Ship.

A group of us went out to LA to Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles, it was quite the cultural experience, I had never been there. The food is so rich, and oooooooh so good! I probably ate about 5,000 calories in just one sitting!

We also went to see the Griffith Observatory, it was lots of fun and we got to see the Space Station pass by at night as well, it just looked like a moving star but it was pretty cool!

My friend from Wales came, (Jon on the right) so we went to an Angels game, he had a great time even though he didn't catch a homerun ball.

And one of the sadder moments of summer came when my friend Ashley (far left) took off for a year to be an Au Pair in Switzerland, she is so adventurous and brave. If I am lucky I might just be able to go visit her!

I can't believe it is seriously already AUGUST!!! Summer is almost over and it feels like it just began! Although I don't have a job, one thing I am grateful for is that I don't have to start school in a few weeks!!! Yeah, done with that for awhile!

Beach fun and my Birthday!

So I celebrated my 26th Birthday with all my girlfriends. We had fun pigging out on Ghirardelli chocolate and chocolate chip pizookie....I love that stuff!!! All these girls are wonderful and I am so grateful to have their friendship!!!

I was able to go to lunch with 2 of my wonderful classmates Melissa and Ashley. We are all so spread out, now that we don't go to school we hardly ever see each other!!! We all decided we need to definitely make time to visit each other often!!!

I went to the beach one day with my sister and her family. And I found out that my niece and nephew really don't like the water. Joshua really likes to jump, I got a great action shot of him, it's pretty cool!

Here they are so far from the water, making sure they don't get close at all, one time it came too close and touched Elsie's toes and she started crying. SO traumatic!

I guess they are normal because they do like to play in the sand!

I love her big grin! Sandy too!

So, although I am unemployed and job hunting is probably worse than torture, I have managed to find some fun ways to spend my time. Keep me in your prayers that a job will come soon!

Having nothing to do is overrated!

Hello everyone, so since I have been back from Costa Rica, I went to visit my friend Jenessa who just moved to Utah. We had some fun, saw the movie The Proposal, so good, funny and cute. I love Sandra Bullock. Then I headed down to Vegas to drive with my friend Lori to Lake Powell to meet some friends. Unfortunately, Lake Powell was not all I hoped it would be. There was so much wind we arrived in a sand storm and could barely open our eyes. We finally got our tent pitched around 11pm at which point a huge gust of wind blew it away. We ended up burying half the tent just to keep it down. Then of course, if it couldn't get any better, it started raining. So we were sandy, wet and tired. Woke up the next morning to a beautiful sky and went out for a 2 hour boat ride. However, we did not want to get stuck in another sand/rain storm and clouds were approaching so we cut our short trip and headed back to Vegas. The next day we layed out by the pool since I was hoping to work on my tan at the lake, and then went to see the second Transformers movie, which I absolutely loved....it was sooooo funny and awesome!!!

So now I have spent the last 10 days avidly looking for a job with little success. It is frustrating now a days because it seems you can apply all you want online (which is all you are allowed to do) but unless you KNOW someone, your resume is pretty much a needle in a haystack. I mean, I am applying for jobs I am way overqualified for and I still hear nothing, it's quite frustrating actually. But I have a lead through a friend and hopefully I will be employed soon and on my way to making money again.

During all this wonderful downtime that so many seem to be jealous of, (don't get me wrong, I enjoy down time, but not this much) I have been reading like crazy. I found a hidden treasure by C.S. Lewis I have never heard of called Till We Have Faces, and I highly recommend it. I couldn't put it down, and of course it has one of those great philosophical themes and really gets you thinking, especially about where you would fall in the story.

I have also always been a fan of the author Jodi Picoult, her novels bring such controversial issues to light and make them seem so ordinary and obvious. Her novel My Sister's Keeper has recently been made into a movie and since I have yet to read it, I went and bought it, and am happy to say, I am almost done with it. (By the way, I refuse to see a movie before reading the book, and I usually always think the book is better!) What a story, such hard decisions, parental issues, familial issues, I love how her books just make you so passionate about the characters, you can always find yourself defending every character, but at the same time, hating them too. If you haven't read any of her books I highly recommend trying her out.

So, now I continue to flood my room with library books and search daily for new postings for jobs. Despite all of this, I must express how grateful I am for what I do have. Despite my boring circumstances I truly am blessed and know Heavenly Father is looking out for me.

My friend Lori and I at Lake Powell, when there wasn't rain or wind!

What it looked like at Lake Powell when we arrived, sooo windy I could barely see!

I got to see my Best Friend Jenessa in Utah. Love her!

Oh yeah, I got to see my friend Jon from Wales as well, he was in Utah too!

Got to visit my beautiful cousins, wish we all lived closer!