June 2013 Facebook Posts

June 2013 facebook posts

6/2/13 I lost my voice, im all whispers  and I think I have pink eye. Ughhhhh.

6/7/13 Noah told some kid he just met at the park "my mommy is mean" because i wouldnt let him go to the kids car.

6/7/13 The other day noah & I were walking. I told him to hurry up cuz i had to pee.
He told me to pee in the grass. 
I told him i cant. 
He said"cuz you dont have a penis?"
I just said "umm lets just go Noah." 
I guess he's figured out that we're different. 
He asked me if has milk too. I told him only mommies do. He said "in your boobs?" 
he catches me off guard with his questions. I never know what to say!
He's so nosey!

6/16/13 Just getting home from hanging out with friends  tonight was a disaster in the best way.
Now sleeeeeeep!!! Right after i nurse my baby back to sleep  oh Eli.

We went out to go dancing last night, I forgot my ID back at the car and went back to get it. I ran back to catch up with the group and ended up tripping and doing a superman baseball dive on the ground in the middle of the street 

I scraped and cut up my elbows and arms and my hand pretty bad. There was a rock stuck in my hand! Like stuck! We didnt make it to the party 

We made trip to WalMart. It was 1am. Got the stuff we needed and headed to the bathroom. Naya tried to get the rock out and Jane got it out (with a cuticle cutter) while gabby and Kenya tried to keep me still. I cried like a baby! My girls patched me up!

After that we all went to dennys. It was 2am. I needed some ice cream!

It was a really fun night. I just cant move my elbows now. It hurts so bad!

6/16/13 I love this girl! Im gonna be lost when she moves away 

6.16.13 Drinking our watermelon agua frescas  — with Letitia Castorena.

6/21/13 Noah: "Eli has a penis"
Me: "just like you and daddy"
Noah: "and you"
Me: "no mommy doesn't have a penis"
Noah: "why?"
Me: "cuz mommies dont have penises."
Noah: "but why" 
Me: "Cuz we dont need them"
Noah: "why" 
Me: "Cuz im a mommy"
Noah:"but why"
That's when I pretended I heard someone at the door. 
Curious little noah is really testing my knowledge of how to talk to kids. Im gonna just start making crazy stuff up

6/21/13 I just ate pizza now im breaking out in hives. Pizza pie cafe never againnnn.

6/22/13 I dont feel like doing anything today except having a Hells Kitchen marathon  and then cooking something challenging..

6/23/13 All is okay in my world and I am happy.

6/23/13 Dinner tonight was a DISASTER! 
I attempted to make stuffed mushrooms, chicken parmesan & risotto. 
The stuffed mushrooms came out beautifully.... 
and then the oven caught FIRE. the inside was flames and fireworks shooting from the back. OMG. 
and the landlord wants to bring a repairman in for a 35 year old oven.WTF. 
then we all went over to Letitia's to finish cooking and i forgot the mozzarella for the chicken parm and my risotto is undercooked and mushy at the same time. 
Dinner was ruined and im sad. my chef dreams are over. chef ramsay would be so dissappointed.
With-Juan, Mckenzie, & Dominick

6/25/13 TERRIFIED to use my oven again. 
The repairman swears it was food on the coil that caused the fire. He didn't even look at the coil. There was NO FOOD on it. 
He says the sparking in the back was caused by loose wires. So he tightened them. 
And guarantees it wont happen again. 
How many times can you work on the same 35 year old oven? 
Once it catches fire how likely is it to happen again? 
What happens to the safety features? 
And if it does happen again, i dont have a working fire extinguisher yet. 
I'm so effing frustrated.

6/25/13 we got a new oven

6/26/13 Today was an amazing day!
Noah went to school.
Noah and I went to story time.
I took Noah and Elijah to AgDays on campus, we got to milk cows, make our own butter and ice cream and get inside the big huge tractors. 
Then we went to the rs activity and it was nice. 
One our way home we made some new friends to have playdates with.
Then a neighbor down the block around the corner was giving away food storage items and we got some good stuff like banana chips, oats, beans, sprouts.... i may have gotten a little carried away!
When we got home, Noah and Elijah fell right to sleep and i didn't even have to nurse the baby! they were knocked out! 
Now i am tired, my allergies have KILLED me today!

6/27/13 Rough day 

6/28/13 I LOVE my friends  all of you are amazing and beautiful.

May 2013 Facebook Posts

May 2013 Facebook Posts:

5/1/13 I weighed myself this morning and guess what?! I weigh 121  I have officially lost 20 lbs since January. Im still not where im supposed to be at for my height but im almost there! I would LOVE to celebrate with some cake and ice cream but I'll wait til Noah's birthday 

5/2/13 from Juan- shout out to Nicole Rodriguez aka my little sunshine (it was the video from the temptations my girl)

5/2/13  A simple sun salutation makes things better.

5/5/13 Happy birthday to my little Noah Benjamin! He is 3 years old today! I cannot believe that we have a preschooler already! He is so smart, sweet, loving, stubborn, curious, fun, energetic and drives me nuts!! Here's to the terrific 3's!

5/5/13 Had so much fun with our family away from family  
We've got an early morning tomorrow... Noah's 1st day of preschool!

5/6/13 Elijah is crawling now! And getting into stuff!

5/9/13 i drank the WORST green smoothie today. it was a recipe i decided to try. i had to drink a big sip and then drink a sip of water to wash it down. it had coconut water, kale, cucumber, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, and banana. so tough to drink.

5/9/13 Date night with my lover

5/11/13 Elijah is crazily obsessed with mini marshmallows! i think its hilarious! he's like the barbaloots from the lorax!

5/12/13 my mami and i have been through a lot. She was the best mom she knew how to be. she did the best she could while she was able to. I am the woman I am today (my wonderful happy self as well as my mommy issues, and all:) partly because she is my mother. i love her to death and respect her always, through the good & the bad, she is my mami. Hopefully she will call today *wishing on a star*

5/13/13 I love that Noah and I sing the Guru Mantra together  I guess I've listened to it enough that he knows all the words along with the Maha Mantra!

5/14/13 After working in my little garden for a few hours it's looking good! Noah and Elijah were so dirty looking after "helping". It was like pulling teeth getting them to bathe real quick. They were both so tired from playing all day, it was exactly half hour from bathtime to totally knocked out!
tonight im Juan's study buddy! helping him for his exam in a few days 

5/15/13 Elijah woke up at 5 am just to talk, bounce and crawl around on the bed, pull my hair, climb on top of and wake Noah up, and finally cry cuz wanted to go back to sleep. Babies

5/16/13 Noah's friends from across the street came over and are watching a movie. Noah fell asleep like this  oh and he decided to draw all over his face and arms with a dry erase marker this morning 

5/16/13 3 things I am so happy about right now:
*I overheard Noah (while playing with his friends outside) saying to his friend "hey! you just hit me and thats not nice!" go Noah for not running to me and tattling! 
*I just received a paycheck for $11 in the mail! I forgot that I covered an hour of a shift at work like 2 weeks ago.
*Right at this moment Noah is out playing with his friends Elijah is napping, and I am free to cook dinner (or just sit in silence:) without interruption. yessssssss.

5/18/13 Noah’s Birthday Party

5/19/13 My smoothie for today. Im detoxing til dinner. I wont admit how many cupcakes i ate yesterday! 
This smoothie is beet, apple, carrot, parsley, celery, beet greens, apple juice, & coconut water. it is definitely strong 

5/19/13 Thanks to all of you that came to Noah's party yesterday! It was a blast! He woke up this morning and went through the gifts before i woke up so I don't know who gave what, but he loves them all! Thank you for celebrating with us! And thanks to those that helped while i was setting everything up! Thanks again friends! We love you all♥— with McKay Monteiro and 16 others.

5/20/13 I just want everyone in the whole world to feel really loved.

5/21/13 He came in from playing outside and fell asleep near the door. Should I just carry him to bed and let him sleep for the night and bathe in the morning or wake him up for a bath right now??

5/23/13 I want to make a difference.

5/25/13 Juan and I joined a March against Monsanto protest. Today has been a FULL day! We drove 2&1/2 hours away to Twin Falls for a protest and then stopped on the way back in Pocatello for a drum circle gathering thing for the same cause, Oh! We definitely cant forget the moment we got a $90 speeding ticket  and i got some more henna and elijah got an amber teething necklace! 
man oh man its been a long fun filled day! Zzzz...

5/26/13 Om gam ganapataye namaha

Our garden 5.27.13
1st row: collards, swiss chard, pineapple ground cherry tomato, early girl tomato
2nd: basil, cayenne pepper, I forgot what the other thing is, parsley, sweet 100s tomato
3rd: spinach, kale, sweet pea currant tomato, indigo rose tomato 

5/27/13 Spinach artichoke pesto pizza with whole wheat crust. 

5/28/13 My boys are sick sick sick  its a "quarantined in the house, bring the blankets to the living room, watch movies all day, eat soup" kind of day. how in the world am i supposed to just keep my sick kid in the house while watching his friends play outside? its torture for him! poor noah

5/28/13 from Katelyn- “Good friends are hard to come by! Thanks for being that for me! We don't always see eye to eye, we're almost completely opposite, we've had ups and downs, and driven each other crazy (okay, more like you've driven me crazy, because well... how could I drive anybody crazy?!) but I'm thankful that no matter what you're there for me! We could go weeks without talking but when we do it's like old times, thanks Cole! Love you!”

5/28/13 Just made a Mala

5/29/13 Sick. Right now I wish I had a snuggie and something sweet like a cupcake or cookies or box cake that my grandpa would make me...

5/31/13 In the past 6 months i have eaten fast food (Panda Express:) ONCE! One time! Uno! Desperate times, desperate measure, you know. whatever 
I am craving HARD today though. I may just "celebrate" with some Chick-Fil-A tomorrow! 
Should I give in?

5/31/13 "The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life..." Richard Bach

April 2013 Facebook Posts

Facebook Posts from April:

4/3/13 I love taking a nap with Noah. When he falls asleep his breaths sound like purrs sometimes. I don't like falling asleep to noise but I love to hear him breathe.

Elijah's first time in the wagon! 4.3.13

We've known Lois for 2 years and she moved away today  I love my old peeps 

My old roomie Amy came to visit us!

4/6/13 My Saturday night? Fixing the vacuum with my lover

4/7/13 dinner with the neighbors

4/7/13 Made me tear up a little bit. I know I am SO tough on Noah sometimes, he can be too much some days. This wont last forever, he's going to grow up. I love my little boy ♥ from the "No! I don't want to!" to the "I love you mami/daddy, here gimme hug" and his lovely advice "take a deep breath" "don't be mean" 

4/8/13 made Egg shell planters together as a family

4/8/13 Had so much fun with McKay and the boys today  now if we could just get Noah to stop throwing cars at his friends 

4/11/13 From my friend “My lil' garden plot is all dug and ready to go. Thanks Nicole Rodriguez - work sure is a lot more fun with a friend.”

4/12/13 I love my friends. You make my days so much more manageable and fun. Im happy to have friends like you  and especially my lover Juan, I  him for having my back when I get myself into a pickle! I should probably listen to you more often babe 

4/13/13 Noah doesnt like super early mornings  we woke him up so we can go get the bountiful basket and he said "I dont want to go to walmart! I wanna take a nap!"

4/13/13 Gloomy rainy morning. Today may just be a 'let noah watch the lorax 100x day'

4/14/13 If you change nothing, Nothing will change.

4/14/13 Honestly, have you ever just have one of those days where you're like wtf just happened? 
Noah has been SO awful today. im 98% sure that everything he did today was just to get on me nerves. he threw a fit for most of the day. i have no clue what his problem was today.
Just to name a few: he drank elijah's juice after i told him no, he wet the floor on purpose, he was mushing all of his words together and whining, completely disregarded the fact that i said no a million times, killed one of my starter plants...
really, now that I listed a few it all doesnt seem THAT bad but man I was just beyond frustrated with him all day. someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning and i think it was me. He was in bed by 7 and asleep in less than 5 mins(not exaggerating). We just had a REALLY rough day. 
I could use a haagen-dazs mango sorbet right about now.

4/16/13 "Our research shows that if you put something in a plastic bottle, people will buy it"

4/16/13 Noah has been having frequent accidents and it makes me so mad. He has been completely potty trained for about 6-7 months so there really isn't a reason he should be having accidents, right? I feel like its just laziness. Sunday he was just playing with toys, yesterday it was at the library, he didnt even tell me he had to go. Today he was playing outside, again he didnt tell me and then came inside and had an accident again. VERY frustrating. He will be 3 in a month. I need Jesus. Advice anyone??

4/20/13 We had such a good time at the raw vegan potluck! So many yummy foods and awesome people. It was a great turn out, it was at least 20 people in our home chillin, talking, trying new foods, sharing, just hangin out 
Thanks to all our friends that showed up, we hope you had as much fun as we did!

4/22/13 Elijah gearing up to start crawling

4/24/13  Homemade strawberry jam without pectin or sugar, just strawberries, apples, honey, and lemon

4/25/13 Noah is sitting here watching the lorax with 2 friends and he is talking during the whole movie. reciting & repeating the movie, telling them who each person is... omg my kid is going to be one of those people that you hate to watch movies with! lol! 

4/25/13 Date night at home with my lover

4/26/13 Noah got his first bike!

Our Love Story: Juan & Nicole

March 29^th was mine and Juan’s 5^th wedding anniversary. It does not feel like that long at all. Here is our love story.

Juan and I have known each other since 6^th grade. He was a cool kid and I was the new girl in town. I didn’t know anyone.  Everyone knew Juan. Everyone was somehow related to Juan.  He liked me and I didn’t like him. He would call me and write me notes. It was cute. Juan got transferred to another school for 7^th and 8^th grade. Then high school started. We saw each other in 9^th grade all the time. But nothing ever happened. We totally missed each other 10^th and 11^th grade. We were in the same school but never ever noticed one another. Until 12^th grade. We had study hall, homeroom, and lunch hours together. I worked at the ymca and he worked out all the time. We began to notice each other a lot more. Hanging out during class, hanging out during lunch, and then eventually talking more at the YMCA. We just started becoming just really cool friends. We exchanged numbers and then I totally forgot that I was taking a trip to Idaho to check out college. I didn’t receive his calls and he gave up on calling me. I felt really bad and when I came back from Idaho I explained why I didn’t answer and gave him my number again. he called me and we started dating. He ended up really shyly asking me out on a date to the movies to see Stomp the Yard. We went on our very 1^st date bowling (not the movies like he asked me to) and I wore jeans and this light blue shirt with tiny apples all over it. We became official February 2007 and then went on my favorite date to Philadelphia. We took the bus super early in the morning and spent the entire day walking around all the big buildings. We went to the art museum and the Franklin institute. While trying to get a bus back to my house so I wouldn’t be late for curfew, the bus left us! Somehow we missed it. Juan chased the bus for what seemed like forever banging on the side of it to try to get it to stop but it didn’t. I remember I was thinking about how much trouble I was going to be in because I was going to be so late for curfew. Juan called his brother Chris and he picked us up and brought us home. I was home in time for curfew and my grandma never knew a thing! Then we continued dating. Then we went to prom together. Then we skipped school together. We graduated together. We spent every waking moment together. The night before I left for college, we wrote love letter to each other. We promised to stay together through the distance. I remember the feeling like it was yesterday. I thought my life was ending. I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t want to be without him .I cried. He cried. I remember just swinging in the swing in the back yard and just holding each other so tight. We didn’t want to let go. We were each other’s everything. It was us. So that night, he proposed to me. With a little $30 Wal-Mart ring. It was beautiful. I said yes! So much love. What we had was special. He was the one. The world could have been on fire and we would not have cared. We were in complete and beautiful bliss. We had that all consuming love. Do anything and everything for you kinda love. I was terrified to leave him. To go through months of life without him.

But I did it. We talked every day almost all day. I had a $300 cell phone bill to prove it. Being in love is expensive! We argued most of the time I was away. After the semester ended we seriously considered eloping. But because of the family we decided not to. We got married March 29^th 2008 in Woodstown NJ. Honeymooned in Orlando. We had a beautiful wedding and reception. I remember arguing the night before our wedding. We were painting a lattice together but it was a cold and we of course were scared about our wedding. I remember I got my eyebrows waxed the day before and when I got my makeup done for the wedding you could totally tell. We left the reception and stayed the night in Atlantic City, hopped on the plane the next day to Orlando. And about 2 weeks after getting married we drove out to Idaho to start our new lives as newly married college students. It was a 4 day drive. We stopped every night to sleep. We had our pet hamsters with us. I sang the whole way there, we so much of the cereal Reese’s Puffs, the smell of it still reminds me of driving cross country. It was snowing when we got into Idaho and we were so scared being on the road in the dark with a ton of 18 wheelers in heavy snow. It was terrifying.

We got to our apartment around midnight. Before I left Idaho to go back to NJ and get married, I found us an apartment. I had no idea what it looked like, where it was, nothing. I just knew we needed a place and the place I found was $375 a month. As soon as we got there I cried. It smelled like mildew. It was tiny. It was not cute. Or homey. It was sad looking. I was sad.

Our very first apartment was a 3 story building. We lived on the 3^rd floor.  311 was the number. After we started hooking it up it was the cutest little one bedroom. It was ours. It was our home.

About a week into living in Rexburg we both got jobs at McDonalds. Then the semester started soon after that and Juan got a job on campus doing early morning custodial and I got a job talking on the phone in Spanish for a local company. Life set in and things were good! The tiny little burgundy 1990 Honda accord that got us to Idaho finally died. It wasn’t ready for these winters! The winters were a shock. It was the most snow we had ever seen! The apartment we lived didn’t have parking; we had to walk about a block away. If you parked out front of the building on the street you were towed.

In October 2008 we were sealed in the Rexburg Idaho Temple.

Some fun things from our first place Apt 311:

People just kept inviting us to play board games, video games, games, game, games. It was kinda weird and we never went. We’re not that big into games. Juan likes his Xbox, I like my phone.

We met some neighbors that quickly became our friends. One day Juan was walking down the hall and saw Zach holding a gun out in the open. That’s allowed in Idaho! Not where we’re from! Then we needed help with our car, I think it got stuck in the snow. Zach came out BAREFOOT walking in the snow to help us with our car. This guy is nuts. But totally awesome. We met Ina & Tyler. The sweetest couple ever. They became our best buds. It was fun living down the hall from them and then upstairs from them and then down the street from them and then across town… always had issues with their apartments!

We hated living wall to wall next to people. For all the obvious reasons.

When someone would set the fire alarm off EVERYONE evacuates. The whole angry building. Learn how to cook or everyone pays for your late night baking accident.

            One time we got a ferret. It was an impulse buy; we took it back a week later. It kept attacking Juan’s feet. Probably cuz they reminded the ferret of other ferrets J

We had this ugly old broken couch! It was free, just sitting out in front of our place. We took it in. it was so broken it needed phone books under the cushions. Good times.

It was awful taking groceries up to the 3^rd floor.

Getting a Christmas tree was interesting. I insisted on a real tree. We ended having to clean up all the pine needles.

In 2010 we moved to a duplex, the rent at 311 was increasing with no benefits along with it, by the time we left it was $425 a month. So we moved to a place better priced for what we were getting along with it to $475.

May 2010, Noah Benjamin joined our little family! This story will be in another post

August 2012 Elijah Antonio made us a family of 4! This story will be in another post

Now we’re in 2013. We have had our ups and we have had our downs. We have an amazing life and times get difficult but we are blessed with such a magical miracle. LOVE.  We had gone through a lot in our separate lives before we got together. We had to work on ourselves together, we had to be there for each other while we try to repair. Our childhoods were rough and we are not "fixed" yet but we have each other to hold on to when things get to hard to handle on our own. We have each other when life is stressful. with school, work, & kids life can get pretty busy.  We are working toward something we didnt get the opportunity to enjoy as children. We have this beautiful little family to share all of our love. We are still learning and growing. We are still getting the hang of marriage and parenting. We have big dreams and lots of hope for the future. I am more in love with Juan than ever. My high school sweetheart was the best boyfriend ever. Now i get to call him my husband, the man of my dreams. We have grown up together (still got lots of growing to do for sure) we have something that I thought didn’t exist in real life, only in fairy tales. Some don’t believe in “the one” or “soulmate” but I believe he was meant for me. I feel like what I have with him I could never have with anyone else and it could never be recreated. What we have is just that special. The way both our backgrounds are, they way our paths crossed, the timing. All of it was by divine intervention. We are meant to be.

I love our story the best because its unlike any other. It’s ours, only ours.

I love you babe <3

March 2013 Facebook Posts

March Facebook Posts:

3/19/13 I tried cuddling Noah tonight for bed. He told me to not touch him cuz I was too hot. I have a fever. So I cuddle him when he has a fever but no cuddles for me? That kid is messed up yo  I'll cuddle Elijah 

3/20/13 So i went to the doctors: 
Bad new is I have strep throat. I hate antibiotics.
Good news is I have lost a total of 14 pounds (since the beginning of this year)!

3/21/13 does strep throat get worse before it starts to get better? 
My fever broke and im feeling better in general but my throat feels and looks awful! I tried gargling apple cider vinegar. Worst thing ever. 
I want to take airborne but its says not to on the box if breastfeeding.. I just want to feel better already!
((((My phone's mic is broken, so no one can hear me during calls  if you need to reach me, use fb or call juans phone or text me. Im about to go old school phone-less I swear. Too much trouble. Wtf))))

3/21/13 I was skyping with my grandma and showing her pics from Cali she was commenting on the fact that I touch everyone 
Grandma Sally Viera: "my goodness nicole, do you have to hug everyone you see?"
Me: "everyone needs hugs, grandma"
Grandma: "they could have a disease"
Me: "then they need even more love"
I love my grandma  and i love the fact that we have things like skype!

3/24/13 . I had so much fun at the passion party yesterday and hanging out with the girls and dancing last night! 

3.24.13 Elijah 7 months old
Chicken waaaaaaang 

3/27/13 I want to trade my almost 3 year old for a Samsung Galaxy Slll. Any takers? He's being a real joy today

3/27/13 Just hypothetical: 
Which would you rather have?
a new phone (i've had my eyes on a galaxys3) or a vitamix(or blendtec)? 
*this may seem like a silly choice but the other day i was seriously considering buying a new phone but then i realized that with that money i could buy a big purchase that i have been putting off (like a new blender).... 
Another thing to to give your opinion on:
 my phone is 2 yrs old. its still works but the mic is broken. thats all. I could get a whole brand new phone for $$$ or I could get a old school flip for cheap and just use it to talk (since thats all thats broken on my current phone.) my current phone is still usable for everything internet under wifi. 
All I have is a little hamilton beach blender and it does okay but i have a feeling its not going to last much longer, i have had it for a while. I'm looking for a new one. What are some good ones to look into? I make smoothies A LOT. Everyday sometimes more.
Opinions porfavor!!!

3/27/13 Noah decided to squeeze almost all of my foot soak stuff into the bathroom sink. I decided to use that as an opportunity to pamper myself a little bit. I sat on the counter and soaked my feet in the sink. My sweet curious busy crazy Noah. I snapped on him today. He knew I needed a break. I guess its all how you look at it. Bat your pickles 

3/28/13 Love. Peace. Harmony. 
My mantra for today.
Its gonna be a lovely day. I can feel it in my toes.

3/28/13 After tasting Noah's ice cream (cotton candy with sprinkles and marshmallows)
"it tastes like diabetes" –Juan

3/29/13 from Juan- I love you babe we been married for 5 years it doesn't feel that long at all cause we love being around each other every single second together!! Happy anniversary babe!!

Road Trip: California March 14th - 18th

March 14^th Noah’s blanket was finally there!!  All was perfect in his little world. Katelyn and I went our that night and left the guys in charge! It was so fun. We went to pick up a table, we walk around a weird grocery store and then went to Joe’s Crab Shack. It was a blast. They gave us these bibs, mine said “it’s not my first time with crabs” and hers said “I <3 crabs”. We got to chat, laugh, joke, I missed my girl! I love her to pieces. We both know we can be crazy but we’re besties regardless. We were her first visitors to her new home in Riverside! I miss that. I miss having that friend right in town with me. The one that you can just call up and be like “come with me” they’ll be like “okay let me get the kids ready, be there in 15 mins” and we’ll sing jams with the kids in the car. And maybe try to throw cherry pits into the car next to us. It was good times.  

March 15^th Juan and I got to go on a date! Katelyn watched the boys for us while we went to Oasis Vegetarian café. It was nice being away from the kids for a little. We got to eat yummy vegetarian food and share a coconut to drink. While we were out noah apparently didn’t like staying at katelyns so much. She took a picture of him standing on the sidewalk with his thumb up trying to hitch a ride cuz he “didn’t like it no more”. She’s always had a way with noah J Then she and Nate went  on a date and we watched the kids. Their boys were already asleep when they left. I fell asleep on their big comfy couch while juan and noah slept on the air bed. 

March 16^th We all went to the festival of colors in LA. I had an amazing time! Juan and I learned about the Bhagavad Gita, vegetarianism, Krishna, and most importantly YOGA! I danced and did yoga with strangers! We all got covered with colored powder. By the end all the colors mixed with our sweat and we looked gross. We met MC Yogi! He was so nice and down to earth. We met Marti Nikko and DJ Drez. It was an overall great experience, I cant wait for the next festival. They have one here at the Krishna temple in Spanish fork UT. We were at the festival for a long time. Then after we all ate at a greek restaurant. I got falafel!

March 17^th We said see ya later to our friends and to California and headed our way back home. We stopped in St. George UT for the night. Its actually a pretty nice place. I wanted to see some weird polygamists but unfortunately it didn’t happen. We got up early the next day and went on our way. We were anxious to get home!

March 18th We finally made it home!

Road Trip: California March 13th

March 13^th We all went to the Santa Monica Farmers market and it was nice, not at all as good as the Hillcrest one though. Mine and Noah’s allergies were a mess. And on top of that we hadn't had a goodnights sleep since we left Noah’s raggedy blanket in Vegas. It still had not gotten to Katelyn’s house yet. Noah is like crazy attached to it. I personally think its scraggily and ugly. It has this smell. No matter how many times I wash it or how much detergent I use. Ew.  I bought some local honey and bee pollen to help out my allergies. One thing I loved about the market was that they accepted food stamps! I think its wonderful that they give those on assistance the opportunity to buy fresh local produce. Then we went to Venice beach. That place is one of the most open, free, strangest places ever. There were lots of stores to buy medical marijuana. One guys asked people to cover him while he lit up! It was interesting. There was a clown making balloons for free (donation) he made noah one. I figured since it was donation I could give him whatever I wanted. I gave him some change. Katelyn swears it was like 35 cents but im sure maybe 50cents ;) but he got upset that it was only some change. Um, sorry to burst your bubble sir but you should accept what ever people are willing to give or go get a job that will pay you a certain amount every paycheck. Sheesh! The nerve! Then I got 2 henna tattoos. Katelyn looked like a lobster from being sunburned. We also went to eat at this Indian place and it was good. one more thing: I cannot stand the LA traffic. It took us 3 hours to do a 1 hour drive. Outrageous. If we ever move to California, I will be bus-hopping everywhere.

Road Trip: California March 10th, 11th, 12th

March 10^th We woke up without our car, it was at the shop cuz it was Sunday. We started to get to know the pedestrian way around the city. We got on the trolley to make our way to the Hillcrest farmers market.  Now that is the absolute best farmers market I have EVER been to. The people seemed very nice and knowledgeable and were okay with talking to us and answering our questions. One girl had the prettiest dreads I have ever seen. I was inspired to get dreads! Maybe one day. We ate purple carrots and so many different sprouts. Noah loved it too. We also tried some new fruits we had never tried before. We met some American guy who lived in Tijuana Mexico but worked in San Diego. He just travels back and forth. He said he liked it better in Mexico. I breastfed Elijah for the first time without a cover in public. It was liberating. Elijah was freaking out cuz I was trying to cover up and I was nervous but then some guy to me to not worry because it was illegal to say anything to a nursing mother about breastfeeding in public. I felt better. Noah fell down and scraped his knee. We walked into the nearest store and they helped us out. We met this guy with silver hair like military haircut at trader joes. We were looking for something to eat. We were standing in front of the salads and this guy was there. i asked him if he had something from there he really liked. he started talking to us and would not stop! i'm sure we got a whole health, history, life lesson that day. We asked him who he was and he told us he was not at liberty to tell us. He did recommend this salad called Balela and it is delicious!  

March 11^th We were still without a car. Enrique told us the issue something about a water pump. We hopped on the trolley and then the bus to head to the San Diego Zoo! Noah LOVES animals! Especially giraffes and hippos. He had a ball. We met this beautiful older couple that were celebrating their 50^th anniversary. They complimented us on what a beautiful family we were. And how it was wonderful that we had brought such a healthy lunch with us to the zoo. And they gave us advice about marriage. Early in their marriage they traveled too, they spent weeks on the road in a car with 3 kids. One thing I remember was we were talking about the tolls and the guy said the freeway was not free J they were very cute. I wrote down their address to send the pic we took with them but I lost the paper with the address L we bought groceries from trader joes but with all the bus hopping and trolley hopping we left it somewhere along the way. We got back the next day to the gas station to check on the car and there was our bag of groceries! The girl noticed we left it and took it home with her and brought it back the next day. People are nice.

March 12^th We got our car back! I think it was around maybe $200. No complaints here! We wanted our baby back bad! We drove down to San Ysidro and got the BEST fish and octopus tacos EVER at this little tiny hole in the wall restaurant called fishmart. Then we made our way to Katelyn’s house in Riverside! It was so nice seeing her after like 10 months or something like that. It was also nice being in a home and being all together just hanging out.