continued...

I dropped off the radar for a while there, didn't I? I have to say, I misjudged bloggers who blamed instagram for killing their blog...welp, now I understand and am also a guilty party. Also, I didn't have a camera there for a while, besides my old ipod and Franco's iphone. I didn't deem a lot of those pictures worthy to be displayed on the web! =} Go ahead, call me a grainy-and-blurry-picture snob.

So, summer. Goodness, where do I start? It's been a glorious and easy month and a half. We made a few trips up the coast to visit family and meet friends in fun places, but mostly we have stayed up late, slept in, explored, watched a bunch of movies, and really, truly relaxed. Some days I would feel guilty because I felt too relaxed, as if I should be doing something actually productive? But then I would remember how hectic life gets when school is in session and how I should enjoy this while I can, and so I'd go back to lounging on the couch with my love or catching up on past season's tv episodes.

In and around all that lounging and relaxing, we did manage to accomplish a lot of the things on our summer bucket list, most of which I've documented on instagram. Here are just a few:

• watch a movie at the drive-in (Despicable Me 2)
• blow bubbles
• pick berries at a farm
• go to the zoo (in Santa Barbara, with our friends the Stotts)
• fun park (Disneyland=Me & Six Flags=Franco)
• make lemonade from scratch (multiple times.)
• sleep with the windows open

Franco starts school in a few days and we're soaking up every last second.We had family over a couple weekends ago to celebrate my brother Charlie's birthday. Isn't family time the best? I think so.

Yuletide With The Castrejons, Part II

Christmas with Franco's family is always fun. Our three nieces are smitten with Clarke and don't seem to care one bit that he's a boy. They share their play food with him, serve him pretend tea, and give him their dolls to hold. I loved watching Clarke enjoy his first Christmas. In the future, I hope to be able to host festivities in our home, but for now, I have loved the traditions we have started with our families. I'm grateful to live near both our wonderful immediate families and share these memories with them.

Things Loved Edition No. 2

Things loved this week:

1. Picnic out in the sunshine.

2. Lucky thrift store find: Vintage globe for $3.

3. Re-hung these handmade gold cardboard initials in my office nook, which previously hung in our bedroom, now officially "the baby wall". (How-to pictures to come. I was inspired by this tutorial at Oh Happy Day and these zinc letters at Anthropologie.)

4. A 3-D paper mobile to hang above the bassinet. Finished pictures soon! (Used these mobiles from gosh & golly on Etsy as a springboard and this tutorial for the 3-D part. Can you guess what the theme will be in our nursery corner?)

5. This Japanese paper penguin from UGUiSU. He needs to come stay with me. 

Things Loved Edition No. 1

Things I loved this week:

1. Fresh flowers in bloom.

2. Peonies in a bright vase.

 

3. Heart balloons from Valentine's Day. Still going strong after more than a month!

 

4. A beautiful hand-knit blanket from a friend of my mother's whom I don't know personally. Randomly generous people still exist in this world!

 

5. Vintage cap & coat from Etsy. One of my only purchases for the babe so far. I couldn't resist!

 

Highlights

Last weekend:

Thursday: I went with Franco to get his hair cut and decided I wanted bangs. So I got bangs.

Friday: Franco had a scout campout so I hung out with my brother; we fell asleep on my parent's couch watching The Last Crusade, my favorite Indiana Jones movie by a long shot.

Saturday: did a lot of cleaning--the church building because it was my family's month to do it; my friend's living room because she and her family was moving; and my apartment, because it was dirty. Franco came back, and we got ready for a night of Ticket to Ride and Wii games at our friends the Trickey's. I came in last place, but slowly got better...

Sunday: after church (I love having church in the morning now), we visited family and then played a couple more games of Ticket to Ride, because it's just that addictive.

Monday: after FHE, we went to Gamestop to buy Just Dance 2, then came home and danced the night away! It's my new (and only) exercise routine.

Nothing terribly exciting.

We're still waiting for any news on where Franco will get into optometry school; I know he's going to get in, I have faith that he will! He has to get interviewed first, so he may be making a cross-country trip or two here pretty soon. Right now, he's just enjoying the fact that he's finally on his last semester of university! We're having a lot of fun together. One of my goals is to get together with friends at least once a week. We've already got dates lined up for the next few weeks. We'd love to hang out with you, too, so let us know when you're free! And if you're not exactly in the general vicinity, well, we can figure something out. Anyway, I hope you have a great week!

Makes Me Happy Part Two

Waking up to a new day makes me happy.

Looking out the window and seeing the sun shining over the world makes me happy.

Playing this song on repeat while we get ready for the day makes me happy.

Planning decorations for our Thanksgiving table makes me happy, and finding a pretty Thanksgiving download to use makes me happy.

Wearing boots, scarves, and long, warm coats even though it's 60 degrees outside makes me happy.

Spending hours talking and laughing with friends who are going through hard times, but are admirably strong and courageous when I wouldn't be, makes me happy.

Reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows right where the movie left off and continuing my version of part 2 in my mind makes me happy.

Peppermint hot cocoa from Coffee Bean makes me happy.

Receiving a Girl Scout tin full of one of my favorite snacks, chocolate-covered raisins, from my wonderful husband last Saturday after his run to the bank makes me happy.

Planning out ways to surprise friends and family with little gifts of love throughout the holidays makes me happy.

Organic avocado the size of a cantaloupe for $1 makes me happy.

Knowing that I will have a four-day weekend this week makes me happy.

Counting down the days until my cousin and his wife will come to visit in December and making a list of the hundreds of things to do while they're here makes me happy.

Purchasing 3,400 yards of red-and-white baker's twine to wrap Christmas gifts with for less than a Thomas Jefferson bill makes me happy. Knowing that I'll probably use it next Christmas, and the next, and the next, and the next...makes me happy.

What makes you happy?

Makes me happy part 1.

Yesterday Was A Good Day...

...but when is General Conference Sunday never a good day?
{what is general conference, you ask? click here to learn more.}

this is what the Castrejon's GC Sunday consisted of:

• listening to church music before conference
• making & eating conference crêpes {my new tradition}
• watching the first session of conference with mosiah & franco in our pj's
• listening closely to this talk because we work with the youth:

Example of the Believers

• between conferences, franco went home teaching, while i stayed home and made fluff pies to take to iris' house
• watching the last session conference with franco's family
• listening closely to these great speakers because we needed it:

Gain your own testimony

Gaming & Texting Addctions
{I should add blogging to the list!}

and of course, our prophet, President Monson:

Missionary Service

• eating homemade pozole & dessert, and sitting around talking and watching the babies have fun
• napping--franco & i went home and took a long nap--so refreshing!
• watching when in rome {better than i expected} & how to marry a millionaire
• reading the scriptures & going to sleep

How was your Sunday?

Rosie's Visit

On New Year's day my good friend Rosa Lea Vanessa Ojeda

{Rosie for short} came to visit me.

I luv this girl!!

We first met in an English class at CSUCI when we were freshmen.

Then I found out she was mormon, too,

and she convinced me to go to Singles Ward {I was reluctant to go...}

She was my first real friend there.

Everyone loves her because she's got a kind heart and has the best sense of humor.

We were together for a little while on New Year's and it was like old times.

How I love long-lasting friendships like this one.

Young Women Activity: Christmas Stations

I was in charge of planning the combined Young Women activity this month.

This called for lots of Christmas activities: music, crafts, and desserts.

We started off with the music station and read a Christmas program about the nativity story, intermittently singing Christmas hymns such as "Angels We Have Heard On High" and "Joy To The World."

That was the most spiritual part of the evening.

We then split up into stations for crafts and desserts.

 

I love being a Young Women leader.
It's so much fun.