New Year, New Reflections

Here we are, having survived yet another apocalypse, where do we go from here?  Though I know none of us really believed that the world was actually going to end I, Myself, often thought "What if?"  What kind of desolate apocalyptic wasteland would the survivors have to deal with in the aftermath of the Mayan End-of-Times? Though it would be a depressing world to live in, it's actually kind of fun to think about. I don't really know why.

2012 has been especially kind to me and my family.  I have a lot to look back on and laugh. To remember and realize how far we've come.  Mila and I have a wonderful little girl who is becoming so smart.  I have a wife that I love so much and who loves me too. We have a beautiful home that we bought this year. We have been showered with blessings. We may not be worthy to have been given all that we have, but you know what? We are children of God and in spite of our mistakes, we are worth it.  Sorry, I'm listening to a great song and it's kinda influencing my writing. Music has a way of doing that and that's what I love about it. In case you're curious, this is the song I'm listening to:

Though the end of 2012 isn't any more significant than the end of 2011, reflecting on the buzz that surrounded the story of the Mayan Apocalypse, it has given me pause and I have been thinking more about the choices I've made in my life. Of course, I don't see much purpose in asking myself "Am I happy with the way my life turned out?" because I know I am happy. My life couldn't have turned out better than it is now.

I believe there are an infinite number of directions I could have taken my life and I'm sure I would have been happy with many of those directions as well. My point is, my reflections of the choices I made in my life aren't about where they have brought me. Instead, it leads me to think what can I do now to make positive changes in my life as I move forward.

I'll give you a short example.  When I was in high school, I loved acting. It became my passion and my dream.  As the years have passed, I find myself working in another profession that I love and in which I find myself surrounded by film making and acting. I sometimes wonder what it would be like being on the other end of the camera.  Maybe I'll get that chance someday.

My example is simple, but there are a few things that I wish I could do more, things that I loved when I was younger. We can make positive changes in our lives anytime but the new year is unique in that it helps to remind us what we can do in the future to better ourselves and continue our joy. Let's make 2013 a year in which we remember the things we love and take time to share in our passions with those we love. Happy New Year!

Here are some photos that might make you happy. It sure made me.

The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year!

To catch the real meaning of the "spirit of Christmas," we need only drop the last syllable, and it becomes the Spirit of Christ.

"With the birth of the babe of Bethlehem, there emerged a great endowment—a power stronger than weapons, a wealth more lasting than the coins of Caesar. This child was to be the King of kings and Lord of lords, the promised Messiah, even Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Born in a stable, cradled in a manger, he came forth from heaven to live on earth as mortal man and to establish the kingdom of God. During his earthly ministry, he taught men the higher law. His glorious gospel reshaped the thinking of the world. He blessed the sick; he caused the lame to walk, the blind to see, the deaf to hear. He even raised the dead to life."

 

  
Merry Christmas to all my friends and family. May this season bring joy, peace, forgiveness, love to all our hearts.  

Everybody heals with love..

This song makes me smile.  Every morning while Im working I listen to some music on Pandora and this one I heard for he first time this past week and I just loved so much. Its just so uplifting and full of good things about love love love. This is what we need to live in a better world. And I really believe this is the solution for everything bad that happen. Sad that as the scriptures says, men are not going towards love but the opposite of that. But I believe we can feel more peace around us if we keep trying sharing our love with our family and friends.  I know Im being too chessy but yeah im in that kind of mood these days, just wanted to share my feelings, that's all.


Enjoy!

Unique day...

 Hoje sendo  dia 12 do mes 12 do ano 2012 , o  que vc fez nesse dia pra torna-lo memoravel??
 Hoje realmente foi um dia unico no meu calendario, acredito que nao vou ver isso  mais uma vez. Entao, o que fazer nesse dia para sempre lembrarmos dele..

 Tentei  fazer com que esse dia fosse memoravel mas meus planos na verdade nao deram certos. Trabalhei desde as 5 da manha ao  meio dia, brinquei com Sophia, assisti VD, dormimos a tarde inteira e fui pra casa de Amanda comer pirao hehe. Best part uh??!Not that bad,  mas nada tao significante assim. Tudo bem, mesmo assim queria registrar o que fiz nesse dia. Ah outra coisa nao tao agradavel nesse dia, eh que nem vi meu amado. Mac esta trabalhando ainda e provavelmente so vai voltar quando eu ja estiver  dormindo. Miss my hubby =(

E voces o que fizeram em 12/12/12?   Se sairam melhor do que eu? Aposto que sim!

BTW, estou animada pro FDS, irei postar as novas sobre isso depois.

Bjos a todos !!night night,,

FHE!!!

As members of the LDS Church we learn how important it is to have family time where we can share our feelings about the gospel and be closer to our Heavenly Father. Family Home Evening is such a special night because it bring us together not only physically but also help us to have a strong bond with each other. We sing, we read scriptures, we pray, we laugh.. It create sweet memories...
This week our FHE was even more special. We had the opportunity to share this moment with great friends. It was so fun and special. Ricky gave the lesson and wow.. the spirit was strong.

                                                                      The Gals

               
We also had a special visit, my friend Laine who moved out of state  was also here and we had a great time, I miss her very much, she is a great friend. 

                                                                  Laine and Sophia Linda
           
 I noticed there are no pictures of the boys. Oh well, guess they were too busy gossiping hehe

Fun and delicious!!

Yesterday we had some friends over, it was fun and delicious!!  We had some brazilian bbq, rice and beans. Uhmm it smelled like Brazil, I'll tell you that. After our huge, satisfying meal we made the mistake of turning on the Wii fit to see how out of shape we were and man.. did we regret it!! That's ok, we had a lot of fun laughing at each other and ourselves.
Here are some pictures of that fun night..

                                      This girl is gonna give momma a heart attack someday

A Brief Update..

 Lately We've been so busy trying to settle everything down in our new home. We've had a few family parties  here already. Its been crazy but fun. hehe Our family is very excited to have a new place to get together on special occasions and we also love hosting them.

On Thanksgiving Day we stayed home  most of the day enjoying each other,  went shopping, played at the park down the street,  and had dinner at our favorite restaurant  Cracker Barrel.

 The next day, on Friday, was our thanksgiving dinner, since Ricky's mom always work  thanksgiving day. It was a feast! Look at this table...

 

                                             The kiddos had their own little table. How Fun!



Everybody had lots of fun, the kids absolutely love the little play house. They spent hours in there and didn't even bother us. I should take a picture of that little house later. 

Well,  this is it I guess for now.. I wanted to update since there are not enough time to blog and I don't actually use the computer a lot. Most of the time I use the internet on my phone and for blogging  I cant use my phone, or maybe I can download an app or something, I will look into that.
it is fun and I actually like blogging, even more when I come here after months to see old posts.

We always say how life is busy, how we wanted to  go visit somebody or just send a message and we never do. I wanna change that, I wanna share  experiences, have memories, not only with my immediate family, but also my friends and people that I love. There is this video  I watched the other day that touched me and reminded me that the little things matter. 

I'm only saying that because I feel I am too connected with my own things, my own world and I always remind myself to forget a little about me and take time to do something for somebody else that I don't see often. A simple visit, a hug or just a quick text message to a friend can make difference at the end of the day. These things matter, it's what we are taking with us when we leave this stage of life. Make memories, connect with your friends and family and those you love!!! Happy life!

Home sweet home!

After a long and tedious process of looking for the right home for us and then the closing process, we are finally home owners!!! We are extremely happy with the choice we made. We are in a great and new neighborhood with lots of kids and new families! This is our first Sunday in our home and we are loving every minute of it.

Another Page Turns

Hey all,

Back from a long, lazy no-posting streak, we have just created a new page for you to look at!  Figuring that there should be more to posting a blog than just writing updates from our day-to-day lives, we have created a cooking recipe page of things we have learned, tried out, loved and that we would like to share with you!

Please check out our new page here. Let us know what you think or if you have anything you'd like to add to our newly discovered recipes.

Zoo day!

We had so much fun yesterday at the zoo. Now that Sophia is big enough to understand what's going on, it was so worth it to take her to the zoo. Last time we were there she was 3 months so she couldn't do much.
It is just great to see her all excited about everything, saying bye bye to the animals, wanting to touch them. She is adorable and we love family time. Let's enjoy this hot summer before it is over right? =\

Bela Sião

We've been enjoying each other a lot these days. Mostly because I haven't gone back to work yet, so I'm kinda having an extending vacation ;) yesterday we went to the Manti temple to witness a sealing of my friends Carolina and Chris and it was my first time there. What a beautiful temple that is! I was so amazed by the design of the building.. Looking at its singular beauty brought me even more peace.

We did have a lot of fun trying to get there though. First, we thought we were not gonna make it because we were running late and since we were running late we didn't stop to put gas in the car. Now, one neat feature our car has is a display that shows how many miles we have left before we run out of gas. About halfway between Spanish Fork and Fairview, in the middle of nowhere, that display showed that we had officially ran out of gas. Without a gas station around for miles and no cell phone reception, the Lord was definitely with us and we made it about 15 more miles into Fairview and were able to fill our tank.

Now that we were back on track we were starting to worry that our gas problem slowed us down too mug to make it to the sealing on time. In the end it all worked out perfectly. Just as we started to think that we were still miles away, like a mirage we saw the temple appear in the distance. We felt that the Lord had helped us to get there as we arrived just in time for the sealing.

Home Sweet Home!

It's been wonderful to be back home this week. We are all enjoying each other so much. Here's a video of Sophia with daddy playing in the park this week. Enjoy!

For those who haven't seen Sophia for a while, here are a few things that are new about her:
 

1. She has grown several more teeth, including two top teeth that have grown mostly in and more that are starting to show, and four bottom teeth.
2.  She has become quite that talker now. Even if she doesn't say a lot of real words, she is always rambling on. She can say a few real words though. They are:  "babou" (Acabou/All done), "duck," "uh-oh," "painho" (daddy), "bobó" (vovó/grandma, grandpa), "mamae" (momma), among others.
3. She loves to dance and dances to all kinds of music, but especially to Xuxa dvd's and "Eu Quero tchu tcha tcha" (Brazilian music).
4. She can now run like never before and climbs up the stairs, on and off the couch and everything else she can get to.
5. Lastly, she can copy everything she sees, like the "paper, rock, scissors" game for example, and everything she sees us doing and she thinks that everything is funny.

She is such a happy camper.  We couldn't be more proud.

Married And Home Alone: 10 Things To Pass The Time

I know I am always talking about my family and how they are not here with me, but right now my life is so boring that there is really nothing else worthy of writing about other than this. So I have compiled a list of things I can do to pass the time while I wait for my birthday, which also happens to be the day that my family comes home.

10. Work, Work, Work

 The timing for when Mila and Sophia left to Brazil couldn't have been better.  Yes, I would rather have them home, but as soon as they left, I was hit with such a heavy load of work that I have needed to stay late at the office on a fairly regular basis.  On top of that, we have 18 video shoots to work on in the next couple of months. So yeah, I'm pretty busy worrying about work and that translates to thinking less about when my girls come home.

9. Spring Cleaning

 It has taken me a while to get started, but it feels good to be productive at home.  The day goes by super quickly when you're so focused on making the house look great and even though you are in serious need to take a shower when you're done, you feel so...clean.

8. Sleep More

 There is nothing that passes the time more quickly than sleeping. I am a big fan of sleeping....at night. I hate sleeping during the day because it makes me feel like I missed too much time, even when I sleep for a half an hour. Nonetheless, time sure does fly when you can't perceive it.

7. Get Out

 One thing that Mila keeps suggesting is that I get out more and do things with other people. It's not always easy to push myself out the door, but every time I do, I feel great.  I went to my sister's birthday party this last Friday and then spent the weekend with my friend, David Johnston.  I loved it. We ate a big dinner and then went swimming and had a blast.  I couldn't help but wish that my girls were with me, especially after seeing so much of David's cute little girl, but I was still able to have a lot of fun.

6. Stay Home

 However fun it is to go out, I feel most comfortable when I am at home.  I would very much enjoy having friends over to have a barbecue or something, but I'm also fine chilling on the couch playing a good game.  Being in my comfort zone helps me to not think so much, therefore not think of my wife and my baby.

5. Watch A Lot of TV

 Ah, TV...TV is great. There are so many good shows out there that I have a hard time choosing one to watch. It's a great time-waster too. I hate having a quiet home.  If I can't have the sound of my baby girl playing with things or yelling and my wife talking to me, at least give me the sound of some random action or comedy scene to keep my home from sounding like a museum.  It gets lonely when it's quiet all the time.

4. Family, It's About...Time

 Since I live so far away from my family I can't exactly go hang out with them every day, but when my parents or siblings call me to make plans, it gives me something to do with other people who love me and who I love; even if we sometimes argue over the stupidest things.

3. Get Fit

 One goal I have been working on (slowly but surely) is to look a little bit better for my family's return.  I have tried to not eat out so much and go to the gym as often as I can, but I don't always feel motivated.  It's a work in progress.  And yes, I am progressing.

2. Play Video Games Obsessively

 One thing that doesn't help with my physical fitness is the video games.  The day after Mila and Sophia left for Brazil, Diablo 3 came out.  Anyone who knew me back in early high school knows that I was literally obsessed with Diablo 2.  I was even a clan leader at the time (whatever that means).  Now, the one thing that helps pass the time more quickly than anything else is my unhealthy obsession with Diablo.  I have spent plenty of late nights and early mornings sitting at my computer, clicking my mouse 5 times every second. I love that game.

1. Sit In The Dark And Pout

 I'm bored with Diablo 3.  The less I play Diablo, the more I start sitting around the house, thinking about how many days are left before my girls come back. It's sad to think about.  There are so many things I can do to keep myself busy until their return, but sometimes there's nothing I'd rather do than drive around and think of what I'm missing out on by being stuck at home, alone, without the companionship of my family. <sigh> Only EXACTLY two weeks left...











I want to wish my sweetheart um Feliz Dia dos Namorados! I will see you soon and we will do something fun together that may or may not be on this list. Beijo querida!