To my very best friend, Happy Father's Day.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

I made it home in time for Father's day! My lovely mother flew out to help me drive home and we arrived right in time! I couldn't be more thankful for my mom to help me drive and more excited to be with my dad for father's day :)

I could not say enough good things about my dad. Anyone who knows me well enough thinks its funny how close me and my dad are. We talk on the phone every single day, probably 2 or 3 times a day. I talk to him about everything. Before and after tests, dates, class, driving home, for advice. Everything. I love that my dad really listens and remembers what I say. He's really good at remembering people too. So, he basically knows all my friends just because he hears so much about them, and if I bring them up 2 months later, he usually remembers. It's also funny because my dad loves Facebook, so when he sees me tagged in a picture with someone, sometimes he will ask me about them. He is my best friend. 

This is me and my dad when I was little. My dad loves his bean bags. Whenever he watches tv, he is always on the floor, I don't think he believes in sitting on the couch. 

Here's my dad and I at my Quinceañera. We had to do some fancy Waltz... ha. That was fun. Thankful for my dad for making me half Hispanic.

I'm pretty sure my dad was more excited about walking across the field with me than I was. It was pouring rain that night,  and he was still there to be my escort :)  

I got my love for traveling from my dad. He plans the best trips. We've traveled to Europe, South America, all over the US and some other way cool places like Jamaica, Canada, Mexico etc. 

My dad looooves taking pictures. Every dance I went to was a photo shoot. And I could never figure out the boutonniere... He always had to help me with that one.

Here we are in Hawaii. He's the full hispanic, so why am I darker than him...

My dad came down a few times last year to visit me in Provo (he misses me way too much). Here's us after I picked him up from the SLC airport! 

I could honestly write a novel about how much I love and respect my dad. All my friends that meet my dad love him. For those of you who don't know him, here's what makes him my hero.

My dad was born in Uruguay. He grew up with basically nothing. Whenever he talks about growing up, it always seems as though he always knew he would come to the US. His mom almost cries about it now because he has an american name: Henry. Not Enrique, Henry. My uncles name is Carlos, and my aunts name is Ana Maria. So my grandma thinks he was totally american and shes the one to blame. I think it was destiny. He came to the US, married my mommy, had me (his prized possession), graduated from Northwestern University (my dads a genius). Had the rest of the fam (not as cool as me... kidding) And he's had some cool jobs but he works for Nike now, and he is the man. He is the smartest man I know, he knows random facts about evvvverrrything. He knows five languages and he knows exactly what to say to make you laugh 

I am amazed at what my dad has done with his life. He is the only one from his family in the US, he came from not even being able to afford a ride on the bus to school, to graduating from an Ivy league school, to the amazing man he is today.  

I'm thankful to have such an involved, loving, caring, funny, concerned, cool, thoughtful dad.

I love you dad, you're my best friend. Happy Father's day. 

daddy's girls. love you dad. 

b 

PS. To prove his coolness even more, my freshman year of college, my dad would send me a new pair of Nike's every month, with a card.

its been real, california.

For those of you who didn't know, I've been in California for the past month and a half! I went for an internship with Partners In Leadership and now I can't believe I'm already packed up and gone from California, where does the time go!?

I guess I'll start from the beginning, and as usual. My time here will be illustrated with pictures. I'm sure there is some kind of limit.. I guess I'm about to find out.

LET'S START FROM THE BEGINNING!

Road tripped it to California with my girl Monica! Stayed the night in Vegas. We only got a picture by the Arizona border... we missed the Nevada and California border. Dang it. 

I left Provo right after finals and got to see one of my best friends get married! She looked beautiful. It was so fun to see her and Alan so happy. Congrats guys :) 

Then I headed to see one of my very best friends Ms. Catie Logan herself. She showed me around La Verne. I got to see where she has all of her volleyball games! This girl right here is a star. Hopefully I can make it to a game this next year!

THEN! I went to the Taylors. I lived with them for my time in California. They are my second family. 

I had such a great time with them. (I'll tell you more about them later).

There's Claudine, Brent, Justin, Dylan, and Jessica. 

Here's what I did while I was in California

Here's where I worked. By my pictures, you may think I just played... but I really did work I promise...Who posts pictures of them in the office? Exactly. I love Partners In Leadership. 

Justin and I did insanity. I'd like to say everyday... but let's just say we started strong doing it everyday and then it slowed down a little. 

 Went to my first MLB game! I love the angels. Jeff got me to love them in high school so I was really excited to see the stadium and watch a game and guess what... it wasn't just any Angel's game. But we went when Jared Weaver pitched a no hitter! It was way cool to be a part of. Even though I had no idea what a no hitter was before this... hahahah 

I got so see SCOTTTIE and Russell! Two of my all time favorite boys. I hadn't seen Scottie since freshman year and Rusell is my best friend. So it was cool to hang out with them. 

We went to Mulligans and rode all of the fun rides and played all the games. 

Jess and I always jumped on the tramp, I'm pretty sure it is one of her favroite things to do. 

I'm pretty sure I have about 2000 pictures of Jessica in my phone. She's honestly the cutest girl and her mother buys her the cutest clothes. Half the time I'm just way jealous of her wardrobe. But I love this picture. Jessica lost a bunch of teeth while I was there. And the tooth fairy gave her $5 each tooth. So she got pretty rich. I almost started popping out my teeth so I could have that tooth fairy... 

While I lived in California I got to visit some pretty cool places...

Coronado Island: 

Favorite part:  Making this sweet village of sand castles. Hahah Tommy and I got so creative. Each Sandcastle had a different theme. One had broken shells, one had all sand dollars. (that was the bank- it was protected by a crab). One had black shells, one had white shells, one had rainbow shells, one had rocks, one had full shells there were more too. Haha it was so fun. 

 Huntington Beach: 

Favorite part: We went to a BBQ and then we went to Huntington. I went with some of my friends who are selling pest control. As we were walking into the BBQ, I looked at my friend Bryce and said, "I'm not going to be the only girl right?" And he was like "no! I'm sure there are other girls coming." I walk in, and it's me with 30 other summer sales guys. No other girls. I mean, why wouldn't that have been my favorite part..

Arizona: 

Favorite part: I got to see Mariana and I got to spend time with Travis! I got a personal tour of ASU, went swimming, and had a really great time.  It was my first time to Arizona.. it rained on my first day there and I really thought the world was going to end. The sky got pitch black, super windy and a hugggggge wall of dust was up. And the rain smelled bad. Nothing like Oregon- haha it was weird, but I still love the place. 

San Francisco: 

Favorite part: Alcatraz was SO cool. It was so interesting to hear all about! I went home and kept reading about the people and the events that went down. I couldn't imagine going to jail stranded on an island.  Oh and roaming the streets late at night with Justin, Tommy and our other friends. Tommy has a way cool apartment and the view from the roof was crazy cool. 

But apart from the fun trips. Here's some other fun stuff that took place. 

Jessica and I painted our nails to be matching :) and we made a Justin Bieber heart over it. Gosh I love this girl.

For Memorial Day, I went with Dylan to a cemetery and all of the scouts decorated the tombs with flags.  

I watched the Solar Elipse with my friendz. Okay... So I didn't know you had to look through glasses to see it... Let's just say I burned my eyes out... 

hung out with Bryce quite a bit, love him. 

 We went out to eat a bunch, but one of my favorites was Yardhouse. Its way legit. And their Mac and Cheese is to die for. So yummy. Jessica and I had fun on the car ride... hahahah

Spent the day in San Diego, rode the ferry to Coronado Island and got to see the Mormon Batallion! 

Spent the day in San Elijo. Ryan tried to teach me how to surf.... Let's just say the waves weren't that good? I would have been SO good otherwise. The Funniest part was after we had paddled out, he told me to get on top of the board and I went on the wrong way. embarrassing. And he cut his foot super bad. It was gross. 

I just had to include a picture of Jessica in my shoes. Because I'm pretty sure everytime I came home, my heels would be all over the floor. She is so funny. At least she has good style. 

I grew a mustache. 

Bonfire at Oceanside. I met the coolest people in my Murrieta Springs ward. 

So I love to run. One day I woke up, and it was raining. I absolutely love running in the rain. So i jumped out of bed and took off. there were soooooooooooo many snails. I had to dodge them because I didn't want to crush them. I think this picture is funny because I was trying to get a picture with Mr. Snail but I couldnt really get us both.... let's just say I was a little distracted on this run. 

We went to La Jolla Beach, beautiful. 

San Diego temple. These pictures will NOT rotate... I've tried everything.

We went Downtown Disney 

We ate at ESPN zone. I had never been there. It is so cool. We got to watch the Stanley Cup. Which LA won. and Thunder vs. Spurs. OKC won, obviously. 

Went on a cool hike where I got to see the whole city of Murrieta and Temecula and even to the ocean. Way legit. 

SO, I'm a morning person. I usually am always up by 7:30 without an alarm clock. This day for some reason... (maybe because I had stayed up till 4am three days in a row) I slept in till 1: 45. I was so sad when I woke up because the whole day was gone AND I missed Justin Bieber tickets. They went on sale that morning and were all sold out :( But Justin snuck into my room and took pictures... so funny... 

Had popcicles and played in the water. hahahahahhaha

Went to Huntington Beach for a church dance and then ate and hung out after. 

Had a ward bonfire/BBQ and played beach football/soccer. I loveeee beach soccer. SO fun. 

PS. Justin and Ryan have a huge bromance. Im sure they dont even miss me. 

Went to Justin's seminary graduation! Which he spoke at! So proud. He killed it, duh. 

Got to see this girl graduate from Kindergarten! There's her with her diploma and a picture of her in her cap and gown! Hahaha. precious. 

 I got to see Justin graduate! I can NOT believe he is that old!

 Bree, Justin, Ryan and I went and had the Last supper at Macaroni Grill. They made fun of me because as soon as we sat down, I asked for more crayons :)

Well! I didn't have pictures of evvverything... haha but just about :) Some people say I'm obsessed with pictures. I'd agree. I love memories. Some bring back stories, others heartache, others excitement and joy. I feel so blessed and I do so many fun things that I just try to capture it all so that I never forget. I had such a great time in California. I met a lot of great people, I learned a lot about myself, and I got some good job experience. 

I want to let the Taylor family know how much I love them. They are suuuuuch a fun family. It was really hard to say goodbye. I learned so much from them. As I watched how Claudine and Brent raised their kids, and balanced everything,  it made me excited to be a mom. Claudine and I are really similar in the way we think, so I loved talking with her. Claudine shows so much love to her kids. The house was always clean - I have honestly never seen a house that is that organized and perfect. Brent was sooo funny. So kind and wise and understanding. For every negative thing that was said, he was always giving the person the benefit of the doubt, or seeing the positive in the situation. Justin is honestly my best friend. I loved our talks and hes SO funny and so cool, and such a great kid. Sweet Dylan, sometimes I couldn't believe he was only 13 because he was so respectful and nice and oh my gosh, his laugh kills me. Best laugh ever, hands down. Jessica, my little shadow. I miss her so much already. She is so cute and sweet and funny. Gosh, I love them all. Thanks for making me a part of your family, you guys are all amazing. I love you. 

This just about sums up why I love the Taylor family so much. yup. 

This girl kills me, so cute. 

I miss this kid so much all ready. This was our song. Frank Ocean, I love you. 

One last thing. My new favorite songs.

M.I. - Jack Johnson - Do you Remember

 Parachute. Kiss me Slowly.

It's been real, California.

-B