Memories of a Little Girl

Ok so I have decided life moves WAY too fast! I remember when I was a little girl the hours felt like days and the days felt like years. As I get older, time flies faster and faster. Sometimes I wish I could slow time down so I could enjoy things longer. That is one of the oh so many reasons why I love photography so much! Pictures capture moments and feelings of life forever! When I look at some of my older pictures, I not only remember that moment in specific, but I feel like I can relive it all over again. So much has happened since the beginning of the year! Switched boyfriends a couple of times and went on way too many dates, hence why I believe I shall forever be single haha. Oh well... I don't regret any of the mistakes I have made. They have made me stronger and I know they have made me a better person from inside and out. After the summer break I changed my major from Neuroscience to International Relations, because while visiting my parents in Spain I realized that my dreams and goals had changed. I came to the conclusion that I loved the medical field and that it will forever be part of me, because I am a Medical Assistant after all haha, but I don't want to become a doctor anymore. I just didn't see it working out in my future anymore. I speak almost 4 languages and love being around people. International Relations is my dream! Since the beginning of the fall semester I have discovered a love for economics and that is kind of weird, because it is not an easy subject. Econ just totally makes sense in my head! Yes I shall forever be a nerd that loves math and the smell of rain lol. So far I have done 3 pageants and seen that I can achieve anything I set my mind to. The whole pageant/model world is a totally different story than what I had expected, but I am grateful I have learned so many new things. I have made so many cool new friends and become a so much more passionate woman. I am proud of my latin/european culture. I feel more secure of myself and capable of anything and everything!! This summer I not only got to visit my beautiful parents in Spain, but I also was blessed with the amazing opportunity to go see my grandparents in Holland. The last time I saw them was when I was 16, so it was amazing to talk to them after 6 year. Love my opa and oma! They are both such an amazing example to me and I am so happy they are both still alive. After I got home from Spain I was given the opportunity to go to Fiji for a week with the Porter girls (Alyson and Connie. Love them!). If you have never been to Fiji, I totally recommend it. That place changed my life in so many ways! I fell in love with the people and the culture. Not to even mention the beautiful beaches and amazing food! We got to help some villagers by building water supplies. It was amazing to see how hard working and humble those people are. I was able to forget about my own problems 100% and focus on serving others. Anyways... It is almost halloween again. No idea what I am dressing up as, but I will figure it out lol. Got to celebrate canadian thanksgiving and listen to conference last weekend. Can't believe girls can go on a mission when they are 19 now. Crazy!! So happy to have the gospel in my life! Don't know where I would be without it to be honest. I love my family and miss them so much! Can't wait to see them in December! Always remember that life is not easy, but it sure is beautiful! Totally worth living, so enjoy every second of it!

2012 and Its Resolutions

So often when New Years comes around we think about what we have done with ourselves in the past 12 months, the lessons we have learned, the memories we have made and most of all the mistakes we made. I feel like by the time thanksgiving and christmas come around we have 1) eaten so much food and 2) spend so much money that we feel guilty, so we embark on a journey of self improvement. We think about the things we want to change and the things we want to stay the same. At least I do!

This past couple of weeks I was reminded of the fact that families are the most important thing EVER. Life is beautiful and I am so grateful for the wonderful parents I have. They might not be perfect people, but lets face it... We all have flaws that we would like to make magically disappear. They helped me realize that most of the time the right decisions are the hardest ones to make.

When it comes to school... yesterday I had so much anxiety about it that I ate 6 cinnamon rolls and drank a whole liter of diet coke all by myself haha. Somehow I always get myself all worked up before the semester starts. I have 16 credits full of anatomy, biology, chemistry and english, so I have mixed feelings about it. I am super excited to get some of those classes out of the way. I know I will learn a ton, but it will definitely not be easy cause all the good things in life never are.

What do I want for this year??

- First of all I want to be happy :)
- I want to love and be loved. "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is to love and be loved in return" -moulin rouge.
- I want to get good grades so I need to work my butt off. I am so close to finishing my degree, yet still so far away.
- Pay off my car.
- Work, work, work, cause someone's gotta pay the bills!
- Go to Spain! I have been craving paella and napolitanas de chocolate. Also its about time I see the beach and my family again.

So yeah for now I have simple goals, nothing too difficult or too fancy. Often though I find that the smallest and simplest things in life are the ones we find harder to remember. I know it will be a great year... I can feel it in my fingers and I can feel it in my toes (Love is all around by Reg Presley) :).

Christmas Break

Christmas break could not come soon enough! I had forgotten how nice it is to take a break from what most of us call life. Last semester was really hard due to the obvious things, but somehow I managed to survive with decent grades and an OK health :)

Christmas eve around 1ish was the moment I finally arrived at the Porter's house in Morgan. I love the spirit I feel every time I set foot in this house. I love how it makes me feel safe and protected. More than anything, I adore how much I love this family and how lucky I am to call them my own family. I am so grateful for the love and hospitality they have shown me all this years. This is the fourth Christmas I have spend with them and I cherish every single memory I have with them. I love getting new pajamas Christmas eve, staying up late and waking up early Christmas morning to open our Christmas presents. It doesn't matter how old you are, the feeling of excitement you get when you open presents never gets old.

I had to work the day after Christmas but that was OK, because I knew as soon as I was done I was going to drive back up to Morgan to party it up with the fam. It was nice to be able to relax this past few days. I got to sleep in, do all my 4 loads of laundry, watch movies, have a good Nerf gun war, eat some good home made meals and above all spend some quality time with both the Porters and David.

This morning David and I got up really early to see the sun rise. We drove to the spot where he kissed me for the first time and ate cookies while we watched the light come up. It wasn't too much of a good sun rise, due to the fact that one it was rainy and two it was cloudy, but it was so nice to just be able to cuddle, talk, laugh and yes kiss maybe a little.

This Christmas I also got the chance to go to David's house and celebrate Christmas the Swedish way. They kind of do things different over there ya know, but they have the same concepts (Family, Christ, Love, Songs, Food, and of course Presents). We had a delicious Christmas meal prepared by David's mom and sisters. The food made me think of Holland because we ate haring and Brussels sprouts. After dinner we sang Christmas songs and read out of the Bible. I assumed it was the nativity story, but to be honest it was all in Swedish so I didn't understand a word of it.

My favorite part of the night was dancing around the Christmas tree with the whole family. Yes, Swedish people dance around the Christmas tree ha ha. At start it seems like a very odd idea, but once you get into it you just can't get enough of it. It is something about the Christmas spirit that fills your soul with joy and happiness. It is during those moments when you can't get yourself to stop smiling that you realize how blessed you are. Once we were danced out we had yummy desserts and opened presents. It was a delightful night filled with new memories.

A Glimpse of Life

I am so bad at this blogging thing haha. Maybe if I had more free time to sit down and write down my thoughts and life experiences I would be somewhat better at this lol.

This year has gone by so fast, I can hardly believe it. I don't know if I am ready for 2012. I am starting to feel so old! Besides the world is supposed to end in 2012 right?! haha

When I think about what I have done with my life and what has changed I feel like things are so different now. But then at the same time I feel like I haven't changed at all. Weird huh!

School at BYU is crazy busy, but my love for that school has grown so much! I love the spirit that I feel around campus and I really enjoy my classes. I have always been obsessed with how my brain works, so learning about the brain every day just makes me all happy and fuzzy inside. I am super proud of myself for surviving all my physics and math classes. Hopefully I don't ever have to see a physics book in my entire life again! I hope to be done with my undergrad degree at the end of 2012, but we we'll see. School and work together can be though sometimes.

I worked at LDS Hospital until last June and to be honest I really miss working at the GI department. I loved my doctor and the people I worked with, but working in salt lake and living/going to school in Provo was a hard thing to do. Besides, they weren't able to keep me as a part-time employee since my school schedule last fall was a bit all over the place.

Right now I work PRN (On call) both at American Fork Internal Medicine and at the Orem Instacare in Orem and I absolutely love it. I work mostly on the weekends and holidays. Sometimes it is hard because I never know if I will have enough hours or not but so far I have not had too much of a problem with it. I have learned and seen so many cool things. I love my job and the opportunity I have to help people every day. I just was born to work in the medical field!

Finally, this summer I was forced to get my drivers license and glorious was the day that I was able to buy my own car and get the freedom to drive to places all by myself. All this thanks to my adoptive parents (John and Connie Porter). They have blessed my life in so many ways, I don't think they even realize how much.

A couple days after buying my first car (who I named Julia) and just a week after getting my drivers license I decided to drive off the road and kinda roll down a mountain... It was a very interesting experience. I was going back home from my friend's house, probably going way too fast for my own good when I went around a curve and ended up at the other side of the road. Obviously I freaked out and corrected my car, but before I ran into the mountain I corrected it again. I was not able to correct my car for a third time and ended up rolling down the mountain. I rolled my car and was stopped by what seemed like a really tiny bush. My car was upside down and I was hanging from my seat belt, kinda stuck because the seat belt would not open. I freaked out because I knew no one would notice I was gone until it was really late and I was so far down the mountain that people would not see me if they drove by. Oh and I also did not have service at that point in the mountain haha. After a little while my seat belt opened and I fell to the bottom of my car. I rolled down my window (thank goodness my car was old enough to not have automatic windows)and crawled out of my car. I walked up the side of the mountain, and of course I had to walk up until I found a point where I had service. I called my family and told them I ran off the road so they could come help me. When I look back at that moment and the pictures of my beaten up car, I am so grateful for that bush that saved my life. It was a miracle that I walked out of that car acctident without a scratch. My car was totalled tho. It was what I called my turn around point. It made me realize how amazing and unspected life can be. I love my family and I am so grateful they are always there for me when I need them.

The insurance totalled my car and gave me more money for it then what I had payed for it. I felt like fixing it was not the best way to go, so I took the money and bought myself a beautiful new used car. Her name is Ruby, she is a 2004 red suzuki and she is my baby. I don't know what I would do without a set of wheels now. But yes, it is a very expensive toy. The good thing is that lately gas prices have been going down.

On June 5th, 2011 I met the most amazing boy ever. He is my best friend and my one true love. I love him deeply and do not imagine my life without him right now. He fills my heart with happiness and joy. I get butterflies in my stomach everytime he kisses me. His name is David Hansen and he is from Sweden :)

So yeah, christmas was yesterday and for some reason it doesn't feel like christmas, mainly because I have been working so much lately. I am just so thankful for the people in my life that care about me and love me the way I am. I love my parents and miss them incredibly much. Last time I was home was almost three years ago, so I think it is about time I go home again. Spain is calling me people!

I am grateful for my religion and the knowledge I have about God's plan. I love my Heavenly Father and know He listens to my prayers. I believe in miracles and in the blessings of the attonment of Christ.

Little miracles

I haven't written a post in more than a year and a half. So many things have happened. So many new friends, so many new experiences, and so many little (and huge) miracles. I have no idea where to start lol.

Well... I graduated from LDS Business College last April. Got my generals out of the way and finished my medical assistant certificate. Got a job through intermountain healthcare as a medical assistant at LDS Hospital. I have been wo

rking there for about 5 months now and I love it. I work with a gastroenterologist (a stomach doctor, for those who don't like big words). His name is Dr. Melvin D. Kuwahara and he is great. My job with him covers from taking vitals and d

oing all the paper work to doing minor procedures and talking to patients about any concerns or questions they might have. This job has made me realize how much I love helping and others.

Healing for life... Intermountain Healthcare

Healthcare is definitely where I wanna be working for the rest of my life. I have learned so many cool new things! My doctor is only in the office 2 days a week (he is in surgery the rest of the week), so I have gotten to work as what is called a ''float'' a lot. I have developed experience in gastroenterology, urology, internal medicine and surgery. Being able to work with different kinds of doctors and different kind of patients

has made realize how complex and wonderful medicine is. There is new things to learn every day. My desire to become a doctor myself has grown so much!

Right now I am in finals week and should be studying calculus instead of writing on my blog haha. Work full-time and school at the same time can really kick your trash sometimes. Time goes so fast when you are busy (and when u

are not too). Some days I feel like I'm always running from one place to the other. There is always a deadline I'm trying to reach or a place I have to be at. Its crazy but I love it. I don't think I could ever go back to not working and just go to school.

I finally got accepted into BYU-Provo. I'm starting classes in January. I'm excited but deep inside terrified. My major is neuroscience. Every timeI say that word people say how smart I must be, which I think is funny. I have never see

n myself as a ''smart'' person. I'm as much of a slacker as everyone else. I love school but often find myself not putting it as my first priority in life. Choosing neuroscience as my major wasn't a hard decision to make. The human brain has always fascinated me. Also, its one of BYU's pre-med programs and since my long term goal is to become a doctor it was an easy decision to make. When it comes to my love life, I'm still single and free haha. In the past year and a half I have dated a couple people seriously, but they just weren't the right one. I Have loved with all my heart, broken some hearts and gotten my heart broken pretty badly as well. It wasn't easy but I do not regret any of it. Every experience and every mistake I have made has changed me and helped me learn so much about life and about myself.

Go Cougars!!

Just want you guys to know how deeply grateful I'm for the gospel in my life. I have seen the hand of the Lord in my life daily. I'm grateful for the power of prayer and the little small voice of the spirit that guides me and protects me. To be honest, learning that what the Lord wants for me

is not always what I want for myself was hard, but sometimes you have to learn things the hard way. In the long run I have seen that God has blessed me so much! There are so many miracles in store for each of us, if only we listen and follow him.

My beautiful roommates (hanna, I, Brooke, Katie, Sarah, Tessa and (Laura))

Moving to Provo from Salt Lake to Provo was a change, but I'm used to it now. Also, having 5 roommates can be a little bit of a challenge sometimes. One of the good things is that I live with my best friend Hanna. We have been friends for almost 3 years (It feels like I have known her all my life tho). She is the person I watch Grey's anatomy and eat pizza at 3 in the morning with. We are so different, but so much alike at the same time. She will always be my twisted sister.

Besties Forever!

My parents still live in Gandia, Spain and I miss them like crazy. Being away from them has made me love them and appreciate them even more. Last time I went and visit them was on April, 2009 (which is forever ago). I'm hoping to go see them next summer. Some of the things I miss the most about Spain (besides my family)are the beach and "napolitanas de chocolate". I miss siesta time, fresh vegetables and European life in general.

Hopefully I will be as great of a mother as she is <3<3

Any man can be a father but it takes a special person to be a father.

In conclusion, I love life and life hates me, haha just kidding. So many decisions lay ahead of me and I'm excited to find out what the Lord has in store for me and for every person I love. Please enjoy every day of life you get. Be grateful for your friends and your family. Love with all your heart and don't be scared to make mistakes. Always remember that God loves you!

I guess being a bum is not that bad sometimes

The Good Life of a Bum haha

During this whole week I have played way too much and not worked enough hours, but too be honest... It was so worth it! It felt so good to just spend time on myself and be able to relax for a bit. After all life is not only about work and money. The days and years past so fast. I have learned that we have to enjoy every single moment that we have. Learn from our mistakes and be happy :)The Good Life of a Bum haha

Heaven is Only one Step Away

On Monday I went flying with Alyssa's mom (Angie). Angie has an airplane license and she rents an airplane up at the Mountain Green airport. I hadn't been in a small airplane in years, so it was awesome to fly in a one-engine airplane again. For those that don't know the difference. One-engine airplanes are smaller and fly lower than two-engine airplanes. If you are able to fly lower, you have the opportunity to see everything more clear and it is wonderful. Angie took me all around Morgan County. It is amazing to see how small everything looks when you are 8000 ft in the air.

A plain... YAY!! I was very happy

The Beautiful Valley I live at...

My wonderful pilot and I! Gotta Love Angie Workman!

Temple Fun!

Tuesday Angie and I went to the Ogden temple and it felt wonderful to be in the house of the Lord. The Ogden temple looks a lot like the Provo temple cause those two temples were built around the same time. I did baptisms and ended up having to wait more than an hour for Angie to get out of the temple. Usually I hate having to wait for other people, but inside the those four walls I just have the feeling that time is not important to me anymore. I think I could be there all day and not even care. Inside the temple I just feel like nothing can ever hurt me and everything is possible.

Ogden Temple

Wednesday I had the chance to go to the Bountiful temple with the young woman of my old home ward (Morgan 5th ward). I left the young women like forever ago, so at the beginning I kinda felt out of place there, but just knowing that I was going to the temple made me feel like at home with those cute girls. It was the first time I was at the Bountiful temple, so I was way excited to be there. The temple is soooooooo pretty!! But aren't all temples pretty?? haha

Bountiful Temple

I might go to the Manti temple this Saturday... I haven't decided yet. Im going to try to visit all temples in Utah this summer. Temples have been such a big blessing in my life and Im thankful for the opportunity I have to live close to them.

Old Hobbies Come Back

when I was younger I used to love painting. I have always like artsy stuff, but lately I just felt like I didn't really have time for anything. This week Angie and I went to Provo Craft up in Orem(One of her husband's stores) and bought a bunch of paint and other stuff so I could start painting again. I had almost forgotten how much fun and relaxing painting can be. Im not good at all, but I just feel happy when I get to play around with colors and paint. I'll show u guys a picture of my finished painting when Im done with it. Im really proud of it so far :)

Go America

Ow, I almost forgot about 4th of july! It was my first 4th of July in the states and to be honest I didn't do much. It was a Saturday so I slept in. I watched heroes almost all day, cause I was addicted to that show. Im so glad I finished watching all 3 seasons and I can have a life again haha. At night my friend BD and I went and watched the fireworks up in Morgan. Its a small town so they only lasted for about 15 min. It took BD and I 14 minutes to walk from the car to the football field. By the time we sat down it was over haha. It was kinda lame, but some is better than nothing I guess

Me looking like a huge bum the night of 4th of july

count your blessings and enjoy the little moments that make u happy

Change of plans

At the beginning of last week I got told that I sucked at doing man jobs so I almost lost my job. We decided that I could work inside the house and do cleaning stuff. I was kinda depressed at the beginning, but after a couple days I realized that it was all better for me. I do suck at being a man hahaha and working inside the house is so much more chill. I just listen to my ipod and clean all day. I actually enjoy what i do and I don't have to sit outside in the sun all day anymore. No more farmers tan YAY!!

Good stuff for a missionary

Last Monday I finally send TJ a package full of stuff I had been collecting for months. Just random little things like candy, notes and other bigger things. My favorite item was the Spanish Book of Mormon that I got him. He has always wanted to learn Spanish but he did not get send to a Spanish speaking mission, so I thought he could learn a bit reading his scriptures. I marked all my favorite scriptures with different colors, stickers and notes on the sides. I also wrote my testimony in Spanish in the front and wrote a translation of it specially for him. It took me forever to work on it, but I was very happy with it when I was done.
When I went to Spain last April, my mom and I picked a really cute tie for him. It has a shinny pink color that I love, cause its my favorite color an it just reminds me of our last dance. I included the tie and I also baked him cookies. I was worried the cookies would be hard as rock by the time he got them, but Alyssa's mom told me to freeze them first and then send them. TJ told me today that the cookies were still good when he got them so I was way happy. At least all my work wasn't for nothing. I don't cook very often haha

Small little blessings of life

This weekend I went back to salt lake for the weekend, so I could take care of some stuff. It was a really good weekend full of great things.
Friday night I went to a party at my friend Raoul's house. He

is moving back to France soon, so we decided to have a last minute party. There weren't many people there but it ended up being lots of fun. We just chilled, listen to music and tried to sing songs along with the guitar. We sucked at singing btw. I laughed my butt off! Raoul gave me his guitar so now I can teach myself! I love that guitar so much! I called it Leonor, just cause it felt like a good name for it. I can't wait until I can actually play a real song on it.
Saturday, Hanna and I went to my favorite restaurant in the gateway. Tucanos!! Its a Brazilian restaurant that serves

a bunch of good meat. I had been living like a vegetarian for about three weeks, so I was craving meat like crazy. I think I ate my weight in meat, but I felt great afterward, just really full. Now I can go vegetarian for three weeks again hahaha

After Tucanos we went to the Salt Lake Temple and did baptisms for the death. It was an awesome feeling to be in the house of the Lord and feel the Spirit in his house and in my body. Its just something so incredible! Its like the whole world outside disappears for a small moment and nothing can hurt you.
I have a testimony about the temple and I can't wait for the day I find the right guy for me and I can get sealed to him for all and eternity in a place like that.

Sunday I went to my old singles ward and it was great to see everyone again. I kinda really miss LDSBC. Good old little school where u know pretty much everyone.
After church I had to pack like crazy and I was so worried about not forgetting anything that I left the door open en all the lights on. That is just something I would do!
It was a great weekend and I want my friends to know that Im thankful for their example and their sweet spirits. Thanks for making my life better by being part of it. Love you all so much!!

Haha pictures of

me and Leonor...