Thich Nhat Hanh Snippits, LOVED THIS!!!

http://www.oprah.com/spirit/Oprah-Talks-to-Thich-Nhat-Hanh (read the whole article, it's great!!!!)

The man Martin Luther King Jr. called "an apostle of peace and nonviolence" has been a teacher, writer and vocal opponent of war. Here, Thich Nhat Hanh shares a few words of wisdom.

This article has really affected me! I think I've told just about everyone I know about it!!!! :)

These are some of my favorite parts of the article but I would strongly suggest reading the whole thing! It helps sink the whole message in a bit deeper!

• My FAVORITE quote from the article: "PEOPLE SACRIFICE THE PRESENT FOR THE FUTURE. BUT LIFE IS AVAILABLE ONLY IN THE PRESENT."
• "Enlightenment is always there. Small enlightenment will bring great enlightenment. If you breathe in and are aware that you are alive—that you can touch the miracle of being alive—then that is a kind of enlightenment. Many people are alive but don't touch the miracle of being alive."
  
• "with a practice, we can always remain alive in the present moment. With mindfulness, you can establish yourself in the present in order to touch the wonders of life that are available in that moment. It is possible to live happily in the here and the now. So many conditions of happiness are available—more than enough for you to be happy right now. You don't have to run into the future in order to get more."
  
• "Freedom is not given to us by anyone; we have to cultivate it ourselves. It is a daily practice. No one can prevent you from being aware of each step you take or each breath in and breath out."
  
• "People suffer because they are caught in their views. As soon as we release those views, we are free and we don't suffer anymore."
  
• "Mindfulness helps you go home to the present. And every time you go there and recognize a condition of happiness that you have, happiness comes." ~
• "Life is available only in the present. That is why we should walk in such a way that every step can bring us to the here and the now."
  
• "When you love someone, the best thing you can offer is your presence. How can you love if you are not there?"
  
• "To be loved means to be recognized as existing."
  
• "Every thought you produce, anything you say, any action you do, it bears your signature."
  
• "We have to continue to learn. We have to be open. And we have to be ready to release our knowledge in order to come to a higher understanding of reality."
  

Utah Baby Shower

So blessed to have friends and family right about now....teaching me the ropes, giving me advice and buying me stuff cause we have NOTHING! It was so fun to see some old friends, my girlfriends and have my family around to celebrate this time with me! Breanna also provided an awesome activity in which everyone made some bows, decorated, and glued cute stuff on and now I'm all set with some super cute bows for this sweet girl. What a fabulous day!

CRUISIN

Jan 28th - Feb 8th
So while Matt and I were in El Salvador for Christmas, we got this email from my parents with a HUGE Christmas present. This is what they sent:

So then we skyped with them and they said that their Christmas present to the family was a cruise for all of us to go to Catalina and Ensenada! We were STOKED! The whole family on a cruise together!?! Sounds like the time of a life time. (Everyone but Ryan and Shannon got to go, they had some things going and couldn't get away :( We sure missed them)

)

It boarded in Long Beach, California....so of course we had to fly down a bit early to enjoy some time in Sunny Californ-I-A! We left on Thursday but some people couldn't come til Friday after work. I was so sad cause Matt had told me that since he had just taken over a month off to travel through Central America that there was no way he was going to be able to come! I seriously was so bummed that he couldn't make it. Then Friday night when I was already asleep, he came and surprised me and woke me up! I was soooooo happy!!! What a surprise! The little stink! :) But he didn't miss too much cause we waited to do all of our favorite things until everyone got there. Here's what we did:


TIDE POOLS at CABRILLO BEACH

CABRILLO MARINE AQUARIUM

Always gotta take advantage of lookin' like a fish.

...and being eaten by a shark :)

Big field + big family = ULTIMATE FRISBEE

 And to top off the day we went to our favorite restaurante: JOLLY BURRITO

Next day: BEACH DAY AT REDONDO
Big beach + big family + volleyball net = FUN

Then a little bit of football.

Oh yeah... that's what we call vacation!

And now for... THE CRUISE!!!
We had to be out on deck to watch initial take off!

Cruising is awesome for SOOO many reasons!!!

The #1 reason you go on a cruise: THE FOOD! Especially love getting all dressed up for the "fine dining"

Here's Us getting ready for dinner all together: Lookin good Fam!

 

Then at Dinner... So fun! 

Another reason it's so fun to cruise: THE KARAOKE
Breanna, Jess, and I had fun singin together. 

Kyle and Jon had a great time singing too!

Lastly, Jacob and Josh gave it a whirl.

The Gambling was pretty fun... all except for losing our money :) The cruise director called it dropping off our donations at the casino. But we wanted to try our luck! As it turned out... none of us had any!

We had fun playing texas hold em as a family. We gambled with starbursts, skittles, and candy bars! Now that was fun! I walked away from that table before loosing all my candy bars :) Wish I'd done that with my money! ha ha... at least it was only like 40 bucks.

Hot Tubbing :)

And the on deck entertainment: This guy was good!

Night Time Entertainment- We didn't take too many pictures but Matt was chosen to come up on stage for the comedy portion! It was hilarious!!! This picture isn't great but it actually shows him up on stage, which he would normally never do!

Cool Shaped Folded Towels: I always hear people talking about a white elephant in the room...now I can say I've seen one too!

 This is the Beautiful cruise ship.

And of course THE PORT STOPS 

1st Stop: Catalina Island

On our boat ride we saw a ton of sea lion's and seals.

Of course those boys always gotta have a hack-e-sac on hand. 

 2nd Stop: Ensenada

We took a nice walk around and made it on top of a hill that overlooked the city.

Our cruise ship from a distance.

The local fish market. (is this sanitary or safe?)

Some cool photos.

Tons of seals:

Then sadly the cruise was over. Fortunately family time wasn't. We finally got to have the ENTIRE FAMILY together! We spent another couple days with Ryan and Shannon! I love havin a big family and I especially love when we can get all together. We went swimming and hot tubbing at their apartment complex and went out to eat and just enjoyed our time together!

Lunch at In n Out

 

The week came to an end but the memories will last forever! And now that I've blogged this, the pictures will be saved forever too! :) Thank you SOOOOOOOOOOO much Mom and Dad for such an amazing Christmas present. We're so blessed to have such wonderful parents who know what life is truly about (Family and Cruisin :) JK,  just FAMILY!!! But the cruisin is awesome too ) ! Thanks for always helping keep this family so tight knit! Love you tons!!!