PH-PHAT Birthday

Thanks to a literature paper I've been working all week this post is a little behind schedule, but here she is none the less.


Philip's birthday was on Tuesday. He is 21. WHAT!? 21? Really? Already? Can it be true? It's 100% true folks.  Believe it.

Happy Birthday PH-ilip!!!  

(there's really nothing more exciting than hitting the underline, bold and italics button in a row and then on top of that changing the color. It's so invigorating.)

I had too much fun dedicating a post to Lil Ms. Butt back on her birthday that I couldn't let the opportunity pass by to do just the same for my not so baby brother Philip. Here we go:

From Ooberlicously CUTE:

To slightly AwKwArD 

(just slightly. Don't judge to harshly, we all went through this stage) 

And on to STUDLICIOUS:

I present to you: Phat Philip or Philip Phat or just plain old PH-phat

(Just as a side note, "phat" was one of those words used back in my cool days that just stuck when talking about my boy Philip. According to the Urban Dictionary it means: "cool" or "pretty hot and tempting." I prefer the latter)

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Sorry, what was that? You want to know more about this studdly piece of meat known as my little brother? Don't mind if I do... 

He may not look very strong (no offense brother), but he really is.

(Much stronger than the scrawny one on the back of the rope)

He's an actor, and a pretty funny one at that

He loves skipping down paved roads

Not a surprise to anyone who knows my family, but he loves animals (sometimes I wonder if I was adopted)

He's very studious

He got to serve as a missionary for a few weeks and even without the name tag, he is a 100% everyday missionary

Orioles Fan!!!!!!!!!!!

Uummm...don't really know what to say about this picture, haha... but I thought you should all know that he did something to his lip a while back. Just enjoy this picture. That's all I ask.

He can make a MEAN pizza and cleans silverware till they are BRILLANTES. 

Did I already mention that he is a stud? Well he is!! How many guys go to 3 proms in 1 month?!

Come on ladies, you know you can't get enough. Leave a comment with your number if interested :).

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The day Philip entered the world was the day that the video cameras turned from Cuddly Cute (and slightly tantrumy) Brillante over to the her new and exciting baby brother (maybe exciting isn't the best word to use when watching a baby lie on a blanket or rock in a swing..). Can you sense the jealousy? Oh yeah, I was jealous, and I still am whenever I watch those videos and hear "Brillante, move over, I can't see Philip", "Brillante, don't do that", "Brillante stop singing so loud, we're listening to Philip breathe" (i might have made that last one up, but you get the idea).

Looking back, I completely understand. I mean, look at this little guy!! He's adorable!!

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One of my all time favorite things about Philip is how loving he is. He's a real people's person (you might not believe me if you knew Philip 15 years ago...he was a tad bit timid back in the day). But he really love's people and knows how to make them feel good. Especially kids. He is SOO good with kids. He'll be such a good daddy some day (and uncle to my future wee ones). I know that there are a lot of kids that really look up to him and I look up to him for that. He's such a good example.

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And there you have it. My 21 year old brother. I love this boy to death and am so glad to have him in my life. He's amazingly thoughtful for a boy in his early 20's, which again, is something that I really admire about him. He's got a pretty dang good memory too. He reminds me quite often in fact that I promised him a sleepover when he was like, 4 and I was 7. I promised him a sleepover in the living room and never fulfilled my promise and he hasn't ever let me forget. Philip, if we have the sleepover this summer, is it okay if I bring my husband?

Happy Birthday!!!!

I love you!!!!!!!!!!

To Guatemala They Go

Hna. Spencer y Hna. Nielsen

I got a new group of missionaries 3 weeks ago. 4 Sisters and 4 Elders. All going to Chile which is exciting (for obvious reasons). They are AWESOME. I love every single one of them. GREAT missionaries. Last week 2 of the Sisters were asked to move down to the Guatemala MTC to be with a Sister who is all by herself down there. I'm really exciting for them, it'll be a great experience, but I can't help but be a bit sad as well. They are such great missionaries and so fun to have in the class. Today was their last class. Tonight they are off to Central America.

All of us with Hna. Ortega and Hna. Hermansen who will be staying here for 6 more weeks

Having sister missionaries is awesome (again, for obvious reasons). This is only my second district with sisters. Love em'. But just for the record I adore the Elders as well.

Today while taking the pictures one of the Elders snapped a quick shot of me and said, "Hermana Self, you are so bonita." Then right after saying that he said, "Oh no...I mean... am I allowed to say that?" haha. Love it!

After my first district back in September I was reading through my teacher reviews that the missionaries leave and one of the Elders wrote "We fell in love with Hna. Self (in a totally missionary appropriate way of course." How can you not love the missionaries? You can't. They're great.

Why Is Everyone Looking at Me?

Clearly if Kiersten Dunst occasionally has one of "those days" then we are all bound to have them as well.

I had one of "those days" this week. Ran home from school, grabbed a skirt and shirt, threw it on and ran back out the door on my way to work. Thanks to the very reflective doors (basically mirrors) that the MTC has, I did my normal "check-myself-out" glance. I must say, I was looking pretty darn good until all of a sudden I got to my bottom half. UH-OH. Somebody forgot to put a slip on, and that is NOT cool. The "without-slip" look may be very common in some countries, such as Argentina for example, but from my experience here in the United States, that just doesn't fly here. I quickly swiped my card and ran inside the building hoping that no one noticed my quite see-through skirt acting just as see-through as it possibly could on this bright wanna-be spring day. Oh yyyyyeahhhh. Not cool.

I felt much more comfortable on the inside of the building but the thought still lingered in the back of my mind throughout the entire 3 hour shift. After most of my shifts, I usually go home (which would have been preferable this day), but no, it just happened to be the 1 day that I go to class right from work. As I walked to campus (walking with my legs glued together. That must help...) all I could think about was how EVERYONE was staring at me. Even during class I felt the eyes of my classmates burning into my soul as they witnessed my moment of shame.

In the end, my guess would be that most of those people that walked past me or that are in class with me didn't even notice my semi-see-through skirt. But it just made me think about all those little things that we have going on in our minds, the little secrets that we have and the way we react. Please tell me I'm not the only one that when I have a "secret" or better yet "wardrobe malfunction" thinks that everyone in the world knows about it. Tell me, please.

One time I even went to the gym and forgot to bring underwear. Did that stop me from working out? Of course not! I just worked out in my shorts. JUST my shorts. I felt completely awkward the entire time thinking that everyone could tell I wasn't wearing any underwear. Did anyone notice? I doubt it. But isn't the mind an interesting thing, the way it plays games on us (and makes us overreact about certain things and then feel completely comfortable sharing it on the internet...Yup. Very interesting thing this mind of mine).

Moral of this story: Don't worry. No one notices. 

Developing mis Skills

Things to know before reading this post: 
interpretation = spoken
translation = written
Get it right people

On Sunday I had the opportunity to practice some of my developing skills of becoming a professional interpreter. Whether that will happen or if that is even something that I want is neither here nor there. But hey, a girls gotta work towards something right? And I can proudly say that I worked towards that "something" on Sunday.

You see, Darin and I were called to be Spanish ward missionaries, so, we go to the Spanish ward. There are occasional English speaking visitors and we can always count on our favorite missionary couple (called to teach English in the stake) and the pianist to be equipped with those big headphones. I interpret for the missionary couple quite often, and by "quite often" I literally mean every Sunday during Sunday School and Relief Society. I sit behind them and stick my head between theirs and hope that my breath doesn't smell too bad. Then in Relief Society I usually sit next to the wife and whisper to her, HOWEVER, lately there has been an increase in English-speakers in Relief Society so just a few weeks ago they brought the little interpretation apparatuses in. There's a few of us that take turns interpreting the lessons which is fun.

Sorry for the background information, but I thought it would help you understand better my excitement in "developing mis skills."  Sunday School and Relief Society are pretty low-key, the gran kahuna is and always will be sacrament meeting. It's been my dream since our first day in the ward to interpret in sacrament meeting. It just seems so official. So professional. So amazing. Sitting up in the corner by the piano with my little microphone...aaaaaaahhhhhh....who wouldn't want that!?

It's not as easy as it seems to get up there and take control of the mic. You see, people are called to be interpreters, there's at least 4 of them, I can't take their responsibility away from them. Yes, I probably could have just asked to do it for a Sunday but I'm actually not as brave as I might appear.

Now to the juice of the story... We quietly slide into our row Sunday morning. The meeting was just starting. I look up to the interpreter corner (as I like to call it) and only the man interpreter was there (there is always a man and a woman, clearly, to depict the voices properly). I didn't get my hopes up because this has happened before. The girl is a tricky one. She get's me excited thinking she's not coming and right when I get the courage to stand up, she walks in and runs up to the front. But not this Sunday. This Sunday we got to the sacrament and she still wasn't there. I told myself that if she wasn't there by the end of the sacrament that I was going up, no turning back. The sacrament ended, I quickly looked around and jumped up to the front and told the Brother that I would help him.  Yay! My big moment had finally come!

I checked the program quickly and there was only one female speaker which was a relief, ease myself in slowly. I peek over at her and see her holding a General Conference talk that was marked up and highlighted from top to bottom. OH NO, I thought. One of my hardest things with interpretation thus far has been people reading quotes and scriptures without me having the English one in front of me. They are so hard to interpret on the spot! She got up and was actually quite easy to interpret for, only reading one thing from the talk, which I will share with you for kicks and giggles because I was stumped and have no idea what I blurted out, but it definitely wasn't what she said.

This is what the scripture she read says in English:

“For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:

“And though … worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.”³⁰

“Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.

Yeah, DEFINITELY not even close to what I said.

And there you have it, my interpretation story of the week. Hope you're having a good one.

Totally me in a few years. Except let's hope I stay in the realm of "gospel vocabulary" :).

Food Addictions

I've had some pretty hardcore addictions this week, 3 in particular. I thought I would share with you so that you can go get yourself hooked as well.

1. Black Forest Gummy Bears

• I've actually been on a gummy bear kick for quite some time now, but I've finally found the BEST gummy bear. We've tried many different brands over the last few months but are now 99% set on Black Forest gummy bears. OH. MY. GOSH. YUM. The flavor is great, the texture superb AND on top of that, the little bears have faces and arms and legs and they even have fur on their little tummies!! Doesn't get better than that.

Comparison between Black Forest (bottom) and Haribo (top, my previous favorite). Look at that fur! They look so real and have 10% Vitamin C!

YUM!!

2. Taco Bell Hot Sauce

• Sooo, I've really been addicted to this stuff for as long as I can remember and perhaps I'm no more addicted to it this week than any other, but since I've eaten it on my food for 3 days in a row, I felt that it deserved to make the list. Burritos, quesadillas, cheese and crackers. OH. MY. GOSH. YUM! It's so good! Addicting! In fact, one of the simple ways that I can tell Darin loves me is when he comes home with a bag full of hot sauce after picking up a burrito from taco bell. That's what I call thoughtful.

YUM!

 

3. BYU Graham Canyon Ice Cream

• What do I even say about this stuff besides OH. MY. GOSH. YUM! Delicious! I went to a little guitar gig at the Wilk last night and they had cups with this ice cream for free. OH. MY. GOSH. I've had it before once or twice, but it really hit the spot last night. (so we went and got more tonight...) YUM.

 

 

Mount Oquirrh Temple

We were up in West Valley for a friends bridal shower this weekend and couldn't help but take the opportunity to go to a NEW temple. We've talked about going to different temples (besides Mt. Timp and Provo) for some time now since we are surrounded by so many (gotta take advantage of it while we can). We went to Manti last summer which is GORGEOUS:

Next on the list: Mt. Oquirrh. CHECK. (That brings me to 13 temples and Darin to 14... but who's counting??). 

What a beautiful temple! I loved it. So pretty and simple and it's up on the hill, so the view is great. Where else in the world could you be standing at one temple and see two others? 

Blurry picture of the South Jordan temple. Draper was too far away for the camera but it was definitely visible. Crazy!

I love the temple.

9 Months Married to THIS Hunk of Burnin' Love

Isn't he just the cutest thing you've ever seen? 

Today marks 9 months of us wearing wedding bands on our left-hand ring fingers. We could have had a baby!! "Could have" being the key words in that sentence. We didn't, in case you were unawares. (Which is really kind of crazy to think about because I feel like we've been married forever which means that I'm a little more hesitant in wanting to get pregnant because it will feel like FOREVER. Oooohhhh dearrrrr).

In honor of the big 0-9, I thought I would share with you 9 things that I love to do with Darin. I like to:

1. Sleep in on a Saturday morning, cuddle, then sleep some more.

2. Pluck each others facial hair.

3. Pants each other and let it evolve into a screaming (me) wrestling match.

4. Squish into our recliner and watch old TV shows on our computer...together. 

5. Go to the temple... together. 

6. Cook a yummy dinner or breakfast and then enjoy it...together

7. Play catch... together. 

8. Go for drives and jam out to our favorite music (or... my favorite music)... together

9. Due to the PG rating of this blog, we'll just leave this last one blank... together :).

Just to name a few... lucky for you we are at month 9, and not 99.

Last night, our new insurance agent felt the need to give us some marriage advice: "Marriage isn't easy but just stick it out together". Not the first time someone has felt the need to pour these profound words of wisdom on us. Well, let me just tell you, after 9 months of marriage (I'm pretty much a professional at this point), marriage is a piece of cake, and we DO plan on "sticking it out together" thank you very much Mr. Auto Insurance man. Clearly there is a reason that so many people give us "newly weds" this advice. I doubt we are the only ones that have heard it, but just for the 9 month record, I don't feel like I am "sticking anything out", it is a 100% pleasure and privilege to be married to Darin. I wouldn't want it any other way.  

I am giddy in love with this boy.

Friday Night Date

I LOVE Friday Nights!!


Well... usually that is. And by usually I mean that Darin is really really good at setting aside a few hours on Friday night, but once or twice he has had to work late on a weekly assignment that he has due on Saturday mornings (yuck!).

Last semester I had to work Friday AND Saturday nights, but this semester I get Fridays off. It is a glorious thing. LOVE IT.

So for our date on Friday we decided to go to El Gallo Giro just down the street on University Ave. Best Horchata ever! I love love love their Horchata. That was the deciding factor. (Plus I've enjoyed every meal I've ever gotten there and it's cheap). We spent 14 bucks for a steak sandwich filled with goodness and a plate of stake with rice and beans. Not a bad price in my opinion, and that included fries, tortillas, chips and salsa, our Horchata, cactus, AND a free complementary dessert on the house. AWESOME. I love that place.

Darin thinking: "seriously? you want to take a picture of me eating my torta?" He'll get used to it someday

I got lessons in how to eat properly at a Mexican restaurant

Use the tortilla as my utensil, pick up the steak, slap some rice and beans on there and eat. It's not as easy as it looks...

I've ordered the Carne Asada before and it has never come with cactus. Friday it did. I took a bite and then moved it over to the napkin so that I didn't have to look at it while I ate. Not a fan.

Yummy cinnamony dessert that we got just for being us!!

After dinner we continued the date with a little Walmart love. Our dear friend Erik needed some dinner and I couldn't help but take a picture of him at the register. He bought taquitos, cheese, avocado, lettuce and a creamy lime mayonnaise to put on top of everything. Now that's a meal!

While at Walmart we had the dilemma of figuring out which toothbrushes we should buy (toothbrushes are getting expensive!). We of course consulted with my tooth-savy father and he immediately recommended the Colgate 360. Uuummm....WOW. We can't get enough of brushing our teeth. My dad sure does know what he's talking about when it comes to teeth. I mean, check this baby out!

Unique tongue cleaner? Umm, YES! Go get one. You can thank my father later.

Finished the date with a little HumorU. It was a successful date in my book. I love me some Darin time!

(P.S. Thanks Amelia for the sweater!)

I asked Riley for his John Hancock...

Remember that one time that I mentioned that BYU's very own quarterback was in my Spanish Literature class? Remember that goal I had to talk to him? Well, I actually spoke to him quite some time ago but never got around to writing the story. It won't take me long to tell you how the conversation went. It went a little something like this:

Riley: Hey, what page are we on?
Me: Uuumm... page 36.

And that was that. Sweet huh?

That was a good month, month and a half ago. Since that time Riley started sitting on the opposite side of the room so it was a little harder to continue to delve into deep conversation with him, that is, until today.

As soon as I walked into class and saw him sitting at the desk right next to mine, my heart started beating really fast. You see, I had told myself previously that if he ever decided to sit on my side of the room again, I was going to ask him for his autograph. Which of course is why I got so nervous as soon as I saw him there. I'm not usually the nervous type,  but for some reason my turning into a football fanatic and asking for Riley's autograph when no one else in the class has even acknowledged him as our quarterback made me a little uneasy.

Five minutes till class starts. (I was stalling, talking to my friend next to me while looking up at the clock every couple of seconds) "I have to do it," I kept telling myself, and the next thing I knew I was saying his name...

Me: Hey Riley, sooo, I was wondering, do people in your classes tend to ask you for your autograph a lot?
Riley: During the season, yeah, autographs, pictures all that stuff. During the off-season, not so much. Plus I cut my hair, so I'm a little less recognizable.
Me: Right, haha (I let out a little giggle to cover my nerves). Soo, then, it wouldn't be weird if I were to, uh, let's say, ask you for your autograph?
Riley: Not at all. It would be my pleasure.
Me: Sweet, thanks. I'll have to bring something for you to sign...

Then our teacher started talking about Vanguardismo and Neorealismo and all that jazz. It took me a little while to get focused on the class because I was thinking about any possible options of signing material that I had in my backpack. A piece of paper from my notebook? The Gabriel Mistral poem we were reading? A textbook? My BYU ID card? NADA. I had nothing. Knowing I was going to have to wait to get his autograph another day, I began scanning through items in our apartment that I could have him sign. Little BYU towel from basketball games? A shirt? My hat? I could print off a picture of him... OR...I could TAKE a picture with him, print it and have him sign it. Then I started worrying about how to keep my cool, I can't have him go thinking that I'm some weirdo BYU football fanatic that goes decked out to every game with sweatbands and long socks and blue dye in my hair (sorry sweetheart..). Needless to say, this is going to take some time to figure out, and I just hope he sits on my side of the room again, because if not, I'd be much to embarrassed to walk over to the other side of the room just to have him sign something for me.

Don't worry folks. It's coming. Stayed tuned.